


More Than Meets the Eye

by Aviditas04



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers: Prime
Genre: Alternate Universe - Past Lives, Alternate Universes, Cyborg Jack, Gen, Jack-Centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-31
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-02-15 11:45:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 38,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2227797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aviditas04/pseuds/Aviditas04
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A year before meeting Team Prime, Jack becomes the bearer of a shocking secret, one that he doesn't want, but can't get rid of. When he meets Team Prime, all he wants is to avoid living that life again, but discovers that it is impossible. So he does his best to make do, and avoid the failure of his previous life. Can he succeed, or is he doomed to fail and lose everything again?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: The End and the Beginning

_Night of April 18-19, 2012-Alamo, NV_

_Everything had gone to hell, even Earth. From the moment I had learned about the true number of pillars, nothing had gone right. From the attack on the highway to Ironside's murder and Sentinel's betrayal to my own forced spying to the destruction of the Xantium to Chicago. Oh, Chicago . . ._

_Chicago was truly the beginning of hell. The Decepticons had torn through it, hardly any buildings over twenty stories remained intact, and skeletons littered the streets. Getting far enough inside the Windy City to find my ex-girlfriend looked like it would be suicide for even the ex-Special Forces guys that had joined me. That is, until the Autobots had shown up and explained that they'd never been in the Xantium. Bumblebee managed to fly me to Trump Tower, where I offlined Laserbeak, though Gould escaped, and that led to more trouble, as he immediately told the 'Cons that the Autobots were alive. Carly then gave us some important information, but after that, she fled the city, too scared of the war. Then again, she probably didn't even make it out before a 'Con patrol found her._

_We tried to take out the control pillar with an RPG, and while the initial plan was good, the building we chose to shoot from was unstable, and the 'Cons discovered us and sent Shockwave's driller-bot into the building, bringing the top half down on top of another, smaller building. Fortunately Optimus managed to destroy the driller-bot before it could do anymore damage._

_Then I managed to get separated from Epps and his friends, only to be found by Starscream. "Hey Scream, it's been a while, hasn't it?"_

_"I'll kill you, boy!" he said, just as I had started running. "I love it when your little insect feet try to run." And sure enough, Scream managed to chase me down. "Thought you were working for us, boy?" he asked._

_"Me? Work for you? Never!" I yelled, as I put on a grapple gun given to me by Que, and launched the grapple at Scream's optic. The grapple hit perfectly, but he started writhing around in pain, so I pulled out a boom-stick and stabbed him in the other optic. Fortunately Lt Col Will Lennox found me and managed to cut the wire on the grapple (Que had forgotten to mention how to disable it,) before the boom-stick went off, killing Scream._

_Since I had no idea where Epps had gotten to, I stuck with Will and his NEST team, only for us to find Epps and join up with him. Then a SEAL team joined us, saying that they were there to vector in Tomahawk missiles. While Will was giving out orders, my heart was broken as I noticed that Bee and several other Autobots had been captured by the 'Cons. They killed Que as the Spacebridge was opened, bringing Cybertron here._

_I had asked Brains and Wheelie to bring down a carrier ship, and it succeeded, sort of. They managed to bring down the carrier ship, but by doing that, the ships inside started falling. That_ might _have made a good distraction for Bee to escape, but the second ship to crash killed him. I lost it at that. Bee had been my guardian since the Autobots had arrived on Earth, and losing him was worse than losing my parents had been during the Fallen/Matrix of Leadership incident in Egypt. It was worse than losing Mikaela because of my job. Bee was my first friend, the one to introduce me to my real family, and I lost control, blasting every 'Con in sight. I even started using the Cosmic Rust gun I had accidentally downloaded from Sentinel._

_Once I had killed most of the 'Cons that had captured and killed Bee, I finally noticed that Optimus had brought down the control pillar and was fighting Sentinel. I instantly decided to destroy the pillar while the Special Ops guys helped Optimus fight Sentinel. I just managed to get to the pillar, but Gould beat me there and reactivated the pillar. "You chose sides, you chose wrong," Gould told me, just as Sentinel killed Optimus. I activated my arm canon and aimed at Gould, while he just turned and looked at me. "I just saved a whole other world. You think you're a hero, huh? You think you're a hero?!"_

_"No, I'm just a soldier," I said, repeating what Will had told me so many years ago. I then blew a hole through his chest, but Sentinel shot me, saving the pillar, and Cybertron arrived in Earth's orbit._

_That was the beginning of the end for humanity. I managed to kill Sentinel, but not before he transported the entire human race to Cybertron and bombed Earth with millions of what he called 'seeds' that cyberformed Earth. NEST and the rest of Earth's military started a resistance, but we were no match for the 'Cons, not without Optimus Prime. Within three months of the death of Earth, the military was no more. Six months after that, the last Autobot was killed. And three months after that, Lt Col William Lennox, the last survivor of NEST, besides myself, was killed off-lining Megatron._

_As for me, I was left alone, my friends and family were all dead, and we had lost the war, as there was no chance we could defeat Shockwave, especially after he repaired Megatron, who then took the name of Galvatron. What was left for me, the living container of the AllSpark and last bearer of the Matrix of Leadership?_ _**"We can give you another chance,"** _ _a deep voice called to me. I recognized it immediately. It was Prima, one of the Seven. He had first spoken to me when I had died trying to get the Matrix to Optimus' body in Egypt, and since then he and his five faithful companions had been my constant companions and guides._

_"Very well then, Prima, what do you mean by another chance?"_ _I asked._

_**"We can send you to another reality, one where your family, and our last descendant still live. That is, if you wish to go,"** _ _Liege Maximo said._

_"Why me?"_

_**"Because of the unique combination of AllSpark and Matrix energies in your body, little one,"** _ _Solus answered._ _**"We can promise you nothing, except that your family is alive there. Do you wish it?"** _

_I had only one answer to give to her._ _"With all my heart."_

Jackson Darby woke as soon as the answer was given. _Primus, what was with that dream?_ he wondered. For the past year he'd been having that dream, or ones similar to it, and all of them connected to Captain Samuel James 'Orion' Witwicky. They'd become so prevalent that he'd started talking like him! The scary thing about the dreams was that there seemed to be an element of truth to them. The events of the day after he first had one of the dreams still scared him. But a year had passed, and no sign of any non-human intelligent life, and to be honest, Jack liked it that way. He liked his quiet, mostly normal life in Alamo. And with that thought, Jack headed to the garage, got on his bike, and headed in to school. Nothing could possibly ruin this day . . .


	2. Darkness Rising Part 1

_April 18, 2012-Somewhere in Texas_

"-So, there I am on the lookout when out of nowhere these high-beams light up my rear-view. Then it hits me, I'm illegally parked!" Cliffjumper tells his beloved partner.

" _Another_ parking ticket?" Arcee asks from Alamo, Nevada, close to the Autobots base. Cliff was telling her about his most recent scouting mission in New York City in order to take the edge off of a serious case of boredom.

"Better: _the boot_."

"Big metal tire clamp, impossible to remove," Arcee remembers from their lessons on Earth culture.

"Bingo! So the local _po_ lice do their thing, and I let 'em get all the way down the block. That's when I kick off my new shiny shoe and BAM!" Cliff exclaims, finishing the story.

"New York's finest soil themselves," Arcee replies, easily hiding her amusement. Though she'd only been partnered with Cliffjumper since the day they left Cybertron together, she was all too used to his loud, friendly, out-going personality, and she loved him for it.

"You know me, Arcee. You mess with Cliffjumper-"

"-And you get the horns," Arcee finished for him. Cliff had had the horns since Cybertron, and made certain to scan an Earth vehicle with horns when he got there. "Not sure how that complies with Autobot rule number one: keep a low profile?" Arcee asked as Cliff laughed at his own story.

"What can I say? Patrolling for Energon out here in Dullsville gets lonesome. Almost makes me miss the Decepticons."

"Like Alamo, Nevada's a party?" Arcee asked in response. "We're alone wherever we travel on this rock, Cliff," she said in a lonely tone.

Then Cliff picked something up that gave him a reason to be excited. "I'm getting a signal."

"Need backup?"

"Do I _ever_ need backup?" Cliff said arrogantly. He took a quick turn off the road to find the source, and found an old, abandoned strip mine. But what was most interesting was what was inside. "I just found a _whole_ lot of Energon!" But just as interesting was what was _above_ him. "Decepticons!" he warned Arcee as he transformed to his Cybertronian mode, and just before he was shot by the _Nemesis_ , landing in the middle of the Energon field. As he was recovering from the hit, a dozen Vehicon drones dropped from the _Nemesis._ "Arcee, about that backup?"

"On it, Cliff!" Arcee replied. "Arcee to Optimus, the 'Cons are back. Cliff might be neck-deep in scrap."

"Understood," Optimus Prime replied from his location in Tennessee. "Ratchet, do you have Cliffjumper's coordinates?"

"I'm locked on his signal, Optimus, but our team is scattered across time zones," the medbot replied from Alaska.

"Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, rendezvous back at base and prepare to Groundbridge." The Autobots arrived not thirty minutes later, but were surprised to find a total lack of Decepticons. What they did find was "An untapped Energon deposit."

"What's left of it," Bulkhead corrected Prime.

Ratchet was confused though. "The first Decepticon activity in three years."

"That we know of. If they're scouting for Energon, they may be preparing for His return," Optimus said in a grave voice.

The team then started searching the old mine for any sign of Cliffjumper. Unfortunately they did find one sign: a broken horn. "No," Arcee said, completely in denial.

"Ratchet, can you track his position?"

The medbot immediately opened his tracking system on his arm, only to find "No! Cliffjumper's life-signal . . . just went offline."

_April 19, 2012-Alamo, NV_

Jack had completely recovered from his odd dream thanks to the dull day he was having at work. That was just one of the many reasons he preferred Alamo to New York-it was peaceful, so unlike his old home in the City That Never Sleeps. But before the memories could start flooding in, another person rolled up, and as always, he welcomed them with "Welcome to KO Drive-In, where every patty's a knock-out. May I take your order?"

"Uh, two Super combos, extra fries."

"Okay, _dos_ _numero_ twos, anything else?" he asked as another worker handed him the pre-made order.

"Yeah, some advice. How do I get an awesome job like yours?" he asked, before bursting into laughter.

Oh great, it was Vince, the school jock and bully. Though Jack could have easily torn him apart, he did his best to avoid him, and only challenged him to verbal judo, of which he was a self-proclaimed master. "So that's two orders of we're-not-as-funny-as-we-think-we-are combos with a side of bite-me."

Vince stopped laughing at that, demanding "What'd you say?"

Jack just sighed. "Fifteen fifty-nine, _sir_ , at the window." Sometimes it just wasn't worth it, he thought as he set the order down. Big mistake, as Vince stopped at the window and grabbed the order before driving off. Great, now his boss would be mad at him because the till was short. Fortunately it was now the end of his shift and he gave a sigh of relief as he left. On his way out, his mom, June called. "Hey mom, I just got off."

"Okay honey. Should I expect you to be home or are you going to be at school tonight?" Heh, figures she'd ask about the dance. She'd actually been bugging him about getting a girlfriend (or even a boyfriend, _shudder_ ,) for the past three months. Well, at least she was finally somewhat moving on after _that_ day. It only took her ten years.

"No, mom, I'm not going to the dance. Experience suggests I should _never_ cut a rug, unless I'm installing carpet."

"Fine, have it your way, but be careful on your way home."

"Be careful? Seriously? This is _Alamo_ , not the Big Apple, mom. _Queens_ has more people in a _square mile_ than this place has total," Jack replied with a strong emphasis on how absurd that sounded. Then, he saw _her_. The most perfect motorcycle he'd ever seen: a blue 2008 Kawasaki ZX-6R, high-performance engine, and the most beautiful lines he'd ever seen, even _with_ the pink highlights. "I love you," he said in a truly love and awe-struck voice. Then he remembered he was still on the phone. "Yeah, I love you too, mom, gotta run." He hung up the phone and walked to the motorcycle. "Hello, beautiful. Where have you been all my life?" He then ran his hands over the seat, testing the feel. "Nice," he decided, falling even more deeply in love with the bike.

Then he remembered his dreams, and the weird memories that they were. "Whoa, slow down there, Jack. Remember what happened to Sam when _he_ found the perfect car?"

 _What does he mean by that?_ Arcee wondered. She had been perfectly fine with the young man (sixteen or seventeen Earth-years old by her guess,) admiring her. She even liked it, it helped her remember fonder times with both Cliff and her first partner, Tailgate, which in turn helped her deal with their losses better. Now though, Jack had completely confused her. Who was this Sam and what had happened to him? And what was with that tiny electrical shock when he touched her?

"Ah, what are the chances of it happening twice?" Jack decided, taking a seat on Arcee, just to see how it felt, and it was _perfect_ , just like the rest of her. "It may take a few KO paychecks, but I am going to own a ride like you someday."

Then Arcee was reminded of why she had hidden at the fast-food restaurant in the first place, as two Vehicons turned their high-beams onto her, and Jack. "Scrap," she whispered, just barely loud enough to hear herself. Then the Vehicons charged at her, and she instantly responded, much to Jack's surprise. He started screaming in shock and fear, as Arcee was heading straight at the 'Cons (well, more like between the twins.) She just managed to squeeze past them, tearing off the lower half of Jack's jeans, turning them into shorts. The 'Cons turned after the pair as soon as they could, chasing them down the street. "Do not let go," Arcee told Jack.

"Great, not again!" Jack replied, confusing the femme even more than before. Her confusion was so bad, that she allowed the 'Cons to catch up, and she just barely braked soon enough to make it so that they crashed into each other. Arcee pulled down a side-street and allowed Jack to get off. "What _are_ you?" Jack asked, in an attempt to act like a normal human.

"I don't exist," Arcee replied, starting to relax. Now _that_ was more like it. Then, just to scare him even more, she said "Tell anyone about me, and I will hunt you down." Jack nodded before turning down another side-street. Satisfied, Arcee drove away, and the two headed their separate ways.

That is, until one of the Vehicons turned down the street that Jack had. "Scrap!" Arcee exclaimed. This was _not_ good! She pulled a quick U-turn and jumped over the Vehicon following her to save Jack.

Jack in the meantime was running at a normal, human speed from the second 'Con in order to make certain he'd rouse no more suspicions from the Cybertronians, if that was what they were. Then, while he doubted it would work, he told the 'Con "I don't even know her!"

As he suspected, the 'Con kept chasing him, but then something he _didn't_ expect happened: the bike returned before slowing down just long enough for her to say "Hop on!" Jack immediately obeyed, and the femme took off down the highway. The 'Cons continued to give chase, and revealed that they _were_ Decepticons by starting to shoot at them. However, the weapons they used were unlike the ones that Jack had seen in his dreams. The Cybertronians Sam knew fired canons with shells and needed to at least partially transform to their robot mode, while these Cybertronians were using directed energy weapons (DEWs,) or as they were commonly known, laser guns, and the guns were the only thing that had changed about the cars.

On the highway, a familiar canary-yellow Chevy Camaro with black racing stripes showed up, ramming the two 'Cons. "Good, he's a friend, right?" he asked the femme, just to make sure, (as Jack was fairly certain it was Bumblebee.)

"Family," Arcee corrected the human. She was surprised that he didn't have more questions for her. Not that she'd have answered, given the need to keep their existence a secret. Then she spotted something that just might give her and Bumblebee a chance to end the fight: an off-ramp that the humans were still in the middle of building. And even better, it would intimidate the human.

As a matter of fact, the jump did _not_ intimidate Jack, but he acted like it. When they landed, Jack noticed that a kid, no more than twelve or thirteen was sitting in front of them . . . with a remote control Bee? "Whoa," the kid said.

"You have no idea," Jack told him as he got off the femme. Then he realized that he recognized the kid. "Rafael, right? Rafael Esquivel? We go to the same school. You're the kid that skipped a grade or two, right?"

"Yeah, more like three or four grades, and call me Raf. Hey, when did you get a motorcycle?" Raf asked.

Jack was about to answer when he spotted the twins. "No time for explanations right now, Raf. Run!" Jack then ran for a nearby depression in the side of the 'river,' just in front of a storm pipe and took cover there, turning just in time to see Arcee change and declare "This ends here, 'Cons." She then charged at the Vehicons and started fighting them, hand to hand. Jack was impressed. Despite the memories that Sam had, he had never seen Cybertronians fighting like this. It was almost . . . elegant, like some kind of dance with death.

"What are they?" Raf asked, shaking Jack from his trance. He hadn't even noticed the other boy join him near the pipe.

"Giant robots that turn into talking cars," Jack explained, still not taking his eyes off of the fight. He was surprised to hear the femme saying something about how her fight was in vengeance for some bot called 'Cliff.' The only bots who had fought for revenge like that were the annoying twins, but Jack liked it. It made her seem more . . . human. But her rage turned against her as the Vehicon quickly recovered and shot her in the chest.

Before it could finish her off though, Bumblebee showed up, landing on one 'Con and hitting another before stepping on his face. Convinced they were down for a while, Bee stepped back from the 'Cons, and onto Raf's RC car. Jack then got confirmation that it was Bee due to one little detail: he couldn't speak English, only Cybertronian. Oddly though, Raf seemed to understand him just fine.

The little incident, however, distracted Bee from the 'Cons long enough that they recovered and shot him. It was about to turn into another Chicago incident when Raf yelled at the 'Cons, turning their attention towards them. "Bad call! Quick, inside the pipe!" Jack said taking off, with Raf right behind him. They got far enough inside for the 'Cons to be unable to reach them before turning around again.

"What did we just see?" Raf asked, after Bee checked on them.

"A really dangerous sight that we should probably forget," Jack said as they ran.

Inside the Autobot base (what used to be a nuclear missile silo that had been decommissioned after the Cold War,) Bumblebee, Arcee and Bulkhead were debriefing Optimus on what had happened in Alamo. Arcee was not happy about it. "-and the 'Cons would have been scrap metal if I hadn't been distracted by the human."

" _Human_?" Optimus asked. Bumblebee corrected Arcee, and Prime acknowledged, "Two boys."

Arcee was unsure, due to a hard hit to the head she had received. "I . . . guess a second one caught us in action? I don't know, was a little busy at the time," she said, her anger over the situation was clear in her voice.

Optimus however, was only concerned over the repercussions. "If the Decepticons are targeting us, anyone _perceived_ as our ally will be at grave risk."

_April 20, 2012-Alamo, NV_

The next day Jack could barely concentrate on school, mainly because he was worried about what would happen now. He didn't _want_ to live Witwicky's life! Sure, being able to know about an alien race was cool, but an alien race in the middle of a war? Witwicky had lost his entire family because of this same war! Earth had been _killed_ and humanity _extinguished_ because of the war! Then, Raf waved him over. As much as he wanted to avoid him, Jack knew it would be best if he made sure that Raf wouldn't talk about the battle they had been caught in the middle of. "Raf, hey. Look, let's just keep this between us, forget anything ever happened, okay?"

But before Raf could agree, Bee showed up, getting their attention. He then opened his passenger door and said something in Cybertronian. "He wants us to get in," Jack assumed, remembering what had happened to Sam Witwicky.

"No, just me," Raf corrected him.

Jack stared at him in amazement. "How do you know that?"

"It said so. Yours is over there," Raf said, pointing at the femme motorcycle. Raf then got inside Bee, despite Jack's protests, so Jack, determined to avoid the war altogether, walked away and ignored the bike. Arcee would have none of that though, and followed him. Unknown to her though, a third human, this one an enthusiastic Japanese exchange student named Miko Nakadai, followed Arcee, as she had also fallen in love with the motorcycle.

Once Arcee had caught up with Jack, she got in front of him and said "Relax, I just want to talk to you."

"Don't you mean you and your new friend?" Jack asked, surprisingly jealous of the woman riding the bike.

"Kid, there's a lot you don't understand," Arcee said, while revealing that the biker was just a hologram.

"No, no, I get it. The first rule of robot fight club is you don't talk about robot fight club," Jack quipped, backing off, though Arcee kept getting closer. Why couldn't anyone understand he didn't want to be a part of this? Wait a minute, that could work. "What you need to understand is that I don't want a bunch of talking vehicles following me around, trying to get me killed."

Arcee transformed, kneeling so she wouldn't overwhelm him. "Look, Jack, your personal safety is exactly why Optimus Prime has requested your presence."

"What?" Jack asked. Optimus was here, alive?

"You may be in danger because you are one of the few, one of the _only_ to have ever _seen_ us."

Then Miko decided to make her presence known. "Dude, what are you waiting for? Go with!"

"Scrap," the duo said in unison. Now they had to take _her_ along. Jack reluctantly agreed to go with the femme, if only to keep an eye on Miko, who had quite the reputation as an adrenaline junkie already despite having been in Alamo for only seven months. Arcee changed back to her vehicle mode to allow the humans to ride her, and immediately noticed something odd. Even allowing for their different sizes and gender gap, Jack was far heavier than he should be, compared to Miko. She quickly filed that away with the other oddities about the teen that she had noticed, including his use of 'scrap' just a few minutes earlier. By the AllSpark, if she didn't know any better, she'd have sworn that he already knew about them and had lived with them for years. But even if that could have been true, (which it definitely _wasn't_ ) why the hesitancy? Well, she'd figure it out eventually, or get it out of him, one way or another.

Jack was surprised when Arcee and Bee just started driving, eventually right towards one of the local mountains. "Another hologram hiding the door?" he asked.

"Not exactly," Arcee said, just as very large blast doors opened up, revealing a tunnel inside the rock. Using Sam's memories, Jack instantly recognized it as a missile silo, a far more secure location for an Autobot base than Diego Garcia or the DC warehouse. Inside were two more Autobots, one of them being Sam's favourite 'Bot to tease: Ratchet-though he had a different paint job from the one Sam had known. The other was an unknown, built a little like Ironhide, but even bigger, and it looked like he turned into a green SUV.

Once they stopped, Ratchet immediately asked "I thought there were two?"

"Haven't you heard, humans multiply," Jack teased. As was typical when Sam teased the medic, Ratchet just groaned.

The other two introduced themselves, with Miko immediately running up to the green warrior, who identified himself as Bulkhead. "Are you a car? I bet you're a truck, a monster truck! Do you like heavy metal? How much do you weigh? Have you ever used a wrecking ball for a punching bag?" Miko asked, rattling questions off as fast as a machine gun. Bulkhead just stared at her in confusion, what was he supposed to do with this girl? Jack on the other hand simply shook his head, Miko was certainly living up to her reputation.

Raf had his own question. "So, if you guys are robots, who made you?" Ratchet scoffed at his question.

Jack decided to save the Autobots an explanation. "Raf, do you really think someone _made_ them? They're obviously an alien race from some distant planet."

"Jack is correct. We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron. But you can call us Autobots for short," a _very_ distinctive voice said. Sure enough, behind them stood the great Optimus Prime, virtually identical to Sam's memories of him, though without the cool flame design that the other Optimus had. "Although, I do wonder how you knew that."

"Well, I know that humans don't have the tech to make something like you guys, so obviously, you're aliens. After all, 'once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.' But that begs the question, why are you here, and who were the others that you were fighting? And why are they here?" Jack asked. He _really_ hoped that it wasn't about the AllSpark again.

"We are here to protect your planet from the Decepticons," Optimus started.

"They're the jokers that tried to bump us off last night," Arcee explained.

"As for why they are here, in part it is because our planet is uninhabitable, ravaged by centuries of civil war," Optimus finished.

"Why were you fighting a war?" Raf asked. _Hmm, a good question_ , Jack thought. Sam hadn't even asked that.

"Foremost, in an attempt to bring a change to what had become a very static way of life. Also, over control of our world's supply of Energon, the fuel and lifeblood of all Autobots and Decepticons alike. The combat was fierce, and endured for centuries. In the beginning, I fought alongside one whom I considered a brother. But in war, ideals can be corrupted, and it was thus that Megatron lost his way." Megatron, Jack shuddered at the name. He'd had the occasional nightmare from the king Con due to Sam's memories.

Miko was bored over the history lesson, while Jack had another question. "So, what does Megatron, or any of this, have to do with us?"

"Megatron has not been seen nor heard from in some time. But if his return is imminent, as I fear, it could be catastrophic. And since you now know of our existence, I fear that as of last night, the Decepticons now know of yours."

"Got it, we see any strange vehicles, call 911. Can we go now?" Jack asked. Now that he knew they weren't needed for the war, he was desperate to get home and stay out of it.

"Are you _insane?_ " Miko whispered to him. "I am living a dream here in _Bot_ swana, and I will not allow you or anyone else to shatter it."

"It is best that you three remain under our watch," Optimus interjected. "At least until we can determine our enemy's intention." Ratchet brought a fairly reasonable objection to them staying there, saying that the Autobots could step on them, emphasizing that with a heavy step. Jack shuddered, if only in fear that the medic could unknowingly reveal his secret. "Then for the time being, Ratchet, we must watch where we step," Optimus answered.

Then an alarm started sounding, which Bumblebee (via Raf,) identified as a proximity sensor, saying someone (whom Ratchet identified as Agent Fowler,) was up top. "Wait, I thought we were the only humans who knew about you," Miko objected.

"Miko, do you really think that the government wouldn't have noticed them come here? This Fowler is probably their official liaison with the government. And considering what happened yesterday, he's probably not in a good mood."

"Indeed," Optimus agreed. "Jack is correct, under the circumstances, it would be best if you did not meet at this time." Jack and the others quickly hid, while Jack kept an eye out. From the elevator came a fat black man in a suit who immediately started complaining about a whole mess of traffic incidents that had been caused the other night. Personally, he didn't know why he was _that_ mad, that was nothing compared to the Washington and Vegas street fights, let alone ( _shudder_ ) Chicago. Optimus on the other hand simply said "We have the situation under control."

"They're back, aren't they?"

"If you are referring to the Decepticons, I have doubts that they ever left. Your planet is much too valuable," Optimus replied. Jack had to agree with that. If he had learned anything about the 'Cons from Witwicky, it was that they _never_ gave up on anything, especially something they considered valuable.

"Then it's time to wake up the Pentagon," Fowler insisted. Jack scoffed at that, remembering how useless the military had been against the Transformers before they stumbled on sabot rounds, and again wondered why he was so mad, it hadn't been _that_ bad. The more the man talked, the more Jack was reminded of Galloway, and that was _not_ a good thing. Optimus agreed with the first part, and told Fowler that they were possibly the only defence against the Decepticons. "Says you," Fowler dismissed.

"Hey fleshie, did anyone get splattered on that freeway? Team Prime knows when to use force, and how much to use," Bulkhead stated, illustrating his point by ripping out then crushing a device that Jack didn't recognize. And as Ratchet yelled at Bulkhead (apparently the device had belonged to the medic,) Jack had to agree with the 'Bot, though he resented the 'fleshie' comment, it almost sounded like Bulkhead didn't have any respect for humans. Maybe working with the 'bots would be a good . . . no, he couldn't risk thinking like that.

Eventually Fowler left, but not without giving an ultimatum first: to take care of the Decepticons, or he would. Not ten minutes after he left, Ratchet cried out "Blasted Earth tech! Cliffjumper's life signal just popped back online." By the way Arcee flinched at the name, Jack had to guess that she was close to the mech. Miko on the other hand just wanted to know who he was, and Optimus asked how it was possible. "It isn't. Another bug, the system's chock full of them!" Ratchet complained.

"If there's any chance Cliff's alive-" Arcee started. Optimus immediately knew what she meant, and ordered Ratchet to prepare sick bay and left through . . . something with everyone but Ratchet, although Miko attempted to go with them.

"What was that?" Raf asked Ratchet.

"I transported them to the designated coordinates via the ground bridge."

"What's a groundbridge?"

"A scaled-down version of spacebridge technology," Ratchet somewhat explained, sounding quite exasperated. Jack had to shudder at the name of the technology that had once doomed the human race. "Since we don't currently possess the means or the Energon required for intergalactic travel . . ." Ratchet continued.

Jack knew what he was implying immediately. "You're stuck here. But don't you have any ships?"

"Not any more. The first thing the Decepticons did when they discovered we were here was to destroy our ship, and Arcee and Cliffjumper arrived via a Decepticon spacebridge that was destroyed on Cybertron."

"So, who is Cliffjumper?" Miko asked again.

"Cliffjumper is . . . was one of greatest warriors on Cybertron during the war. Fast, strong, cocky, always getting into fights with the Decepticons even when it wasn't necessary. And he was an extreme chatterbox, nothing could shut him up, not even a fight or being in the presence of the most feared Decepticons. After Cybertron went dark and most of us left, Cliffjumper and Arcee were one of the few to remain behind. From what I've been able to piece together, the two were captured by Starscream, Megatron's second-in-command, and were used to crack an Autobot code that was used by Optimus to send a message when we arrived here. Starscream then used that message to target this planet with a spacebridge in an attempt to destroy us. But before he could send a single Decepticon through, Arcee and Cliffjumper damaged the space bridge and came through it before the bridge was destroyed. The two of them had been partners ever since."

Just then, one of the computers went off, reminding everyone of Ratchet's original complaint. "So, why are you guys using _human_ computers?" Raf asked.

"It certainly isn't by choice," Ratchet said just a tad too harshly. "It was handed down by the previous tenants when we inherited this former missile silo. I make modifications as I see fit." Just as he finished speaking, six more bugs made themselves known.

"Hey, Raf, you wouldn't happen to have your laptop on you by any chance?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, why do you . . . hey, great idea, Jack!" Raf said as he realized where Jack was going with his question.

Ratchet also had an idea about what Jack was thinking, and was not impressed. "You do realize this is complex technology, right? I mean, it's not a child's toy."

Jack just laughed at that. "It is here, Ratchet. We grow up around computers and know them so well that the government is hiring right out of high school these days in order to have the best people for their computers. And Raf here is easily the smartest of all of us."

As Jack had been praising Raf, the boy in question had set up his laptop and quickly hacked into the base's computer. With a few quick keystrokes, Raf said "Try it now." Doubtful, Ratchet checked the computer, if only to prove the humans wrong. But to his surprise, the bugs had all been cleared out. Ratchet turned to Raf, a newfound respect shining from his optics. Well, at least this was one human that was worth keeping around.


	3. Darkness Rising Part 2

_April 20, 2012-Autobot Outpost Omega One, NV_

Within five minutes of Raf fixing the computers, the trio had decided that if they were to spend any amount of time at the base, they would need to bring something to keep themselves busy as the only thing even mildly entertaining was exploring the base, and Ratchet didn't want them touching anything. They were just discussing which games would be appropriate to bring when, without warning, Jack felt a jolt in his spark. Great, now he had a bond with Arcee, what would he get from Sam's life next?! Well, at least he can understand _his_ sparkmate easily, unlike Sam-who'd been bonded to Bumblebee. Then another, far more painful tug hit, and Jack knew that something terrible had happened. "Ratchet, open the ground bridge to the team, now!"

Ratchet turned to glare at him. "And why should I do that? We brought you here to protect you, not so that the Decepticons could kill you or so that you could have some thrills."

"No, it's for Optimus and the team, they're going to need it, and soon!"

Ratchet just scoffed at that. "Puh-lease. How could you possibly know that? I mean it's not like you could know what's going on there."

Just as he finished speaking, the comm sounded and Optimus called out _"Ratchet, bridge us back! Use the arrival coordinates, now!"_

Only centuries of experience kept the shock from showing on Ratchet's face. Miko and Raf on the other hand had no such experience to keep their shock in check. Raf just thought it was cool, while Miko demanded to know how he knew they'd need the bridge. Jack though could only focus on Arcee. Despite his worries about the possible consequences of knowing the Autobots, and how short a time he had known them, Jack was already starting to care for them, especially Arcee. When the groundbridge opened, the four 'Bots came in just ahead of an Energon explosion, with Optimus just barely avoiding getting burned. "Cutting it a bit close," Ratchet noted. "How about Cliffjumper?" he asked, noting that the other Bot wasn't there.

Miko immediately started asking a hundred questions, but Jack quickly shut her up with a hand to her mouth. Optimus asked Arcee what she saw and she answered "Not Cliff, at least, not anymore. He was mutated, _butchered_ , like something from those 'Con experiments during the war." Then, to Jack's surprise, Arcee nearly fainted, and he ran to her, only for _him_ to collapse when he got close. Ratchet was justly concerned, wondering what could have happened to cause both Jack and Arcee to collapse and started scanning Arcee. He quickly found a strange liquid, but the only answer he was given about it was where it came from: "Cliff was covered in it, leaking it," Arcee told him.

"Go take a decontamination bath," Ratchet ordered after taking a sample. Then, noticing Jack's reaction, deliberately moved the sample past the other kids. He was shocked to find out that they reacted as if it was nothing more than water, despite being much closer to the sample. Hmm, this would take some investigation. Then, while Jack recovered, Raf noticed the time, and the fact that there was no cell reception. So, in order to protect them _and_ to accommodate curfew, Optimus assigned each of them a guardian 'Bot. Miko got Bulkhead, while Raf was assigned to Bumblebee. Optimus tried to assign Ratchet to Jack, but due to his work on the substance passed him on to Arcee-not that Jack minded. He far preferred the passionate ninja to the doc-bot who had earned a well-deserved nickname of Hatchet in Sam's reality, and seemed well on his way to re-earning it here.

After ground-bridging most of the way home, Jack rode Arcee the rest of the way. Inside the garage, Jack tried to sympathize with her about Cliffjumper, but she wasn't having any of it. "What could you possibly know about loss?" she demanded.

"More than you could possibly know," Jack whispered. Though he himself had only lost his dad, and that was about ten years ago, he felt Sam's losses as his own. Jazz's disappearance in Vegas, Optimus' first death in New York, Sam's parents and Mikaela in Egypt, then the Twins and Ironhide in Washington, the mess that was Chicago, the planet Earth, his friend and CO Will Lennox and countless others. But Arcee either couldn't or refused to hear the pain in his voice and brushed it off as girl problems. "Please, the only girl problems I have are all because of you, Arcee." Just then his mom showed up, very upset at seeing Arcee (in motorcycle form,) and only allowed Jack to 'keep her' if he promised to always wear his helmet, and to occasionally allow her a ride.

That night, Jack was unable to sleep well as his night was troubled by nightmares, all featuring a single being: an enormous Transformer with purple eyes and large horns coming out of his helmet, and Megatron . . . as a faithful servant? "Megatron, what have you done?" Jack whispered.

_April 21, 2012-Autobot Outpost Omega One, NV_

The next morning, Arcee started revving her engine to wake Jack up at seven in the morning telling him it was time to go. Just before they left though, she told him to leave a note for his mom. Huh, who knew that she'd sympathize? Later, out on the open road, she opened up, saying that he might enjoy the ride since they weren't being shot at. Jack couldn't help but grin at the suggestion and by the time they arrived at base, they were both in very good moods.

But Arcee's mood dropped as Optimus took Ratchet out on a mission and left the other three behind, and Arcee in charge. And though Optimus claimed it was mere reconnaissance, both Jack and Arcee heard the worry in his voice: this mission could be very dangerous. But the two left anyway and out of sheer frustration, Arcee simply left on patrol and took Bee with her, leaving Bulkhead in charge. Miko immediately decided to try and turn them into a band, but Jack refused to join _that_ disaster-waiting-to-happen. He quickly found an unused room near the main hall for him, Miko and Raf to use for themselves, and decided to try something. Reaching deep within himself, Jack found the AllSpark energy and tried to use that to recreate the Cube, or at least, part of it.

He had just managed to create a corner of the shrunken Cube when the proximity sensor went off. He ran to the door, only to find Agent Fowler there already. He yelled out for Prime, only for Bulkhead to tell him he was the only one there. "Well, where the hell did he go? Wait, don't tell me, he's out pancaking a mini-mall. Now I don't know what language you 'Bots speak on your planet, but Prime promised he would handle the Decepticons, and blowing a crater in the middle of Nebraska is _not_ what the word 'handle' means in English! So you tell Prime-" Then he noticed the cord that led from Miko's guitar to the speaker. "Since when are you 'Bots electric?" he asked curiously. So they had no choice but to reveal their presence to an already upset Fowler. And as Jack expected, he was far from happy. "Contact with civilians! Team Prime has really gone off book this time. Wait, don't tell me, you're running a day-care center!"

At this, Jack nearly lost his temper at Fowler. "Listen, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for a slight case of the 'Con's being at the wrong place at the wrong time. The 'Bots did the responsible thing and decided to protect us to the best of their abilities, something I doubt that the government would be able to do. Besides, we've already been able to help them out, and we'll give them a more personal reason to protect Earth. Now, let us be, or you'll have to explain yourself to Optimus."

Fowler scowled at Jack. "I don't answer to him, I answer to the Triskelion. And I'm taking all three of you into Federal custody. It's for your own protection."

Fortunately for the kids, Bulkhead put his foot down, literally. " _We're_ protecting them."

"Is that so? Well, maybe you can explain that to my superiors," Fowler stated in a rage as he walked to an old corded phone. But again Bulkhead interfered by crushing the phone with a single, large finger. That simply enraged Fowler all the more. "This isn't over, Bigfoot, not by a long shot!" Then he stormed out of the base, obviously intent on telling his boss about Jack and his . . . could he call them friends yet?

Then not ten minutes later, a blaring alarm started going off, shrill enough that it hurt Raf's ears. Bulk quickly identified it as an SOS from Fowler, but "Location scan was incomplete. Oh well."

Jack could not believe his ears. "Oh well? Seriously?" Was Bulkhead really suggesting that they leave Fowler to the Decepticons? Bulkhead's explanation was simply that Fowler was a jerk. "Whoa! Whether you like the guy or not, and believe me, I don't, the Decepticons may have him!" The others were quick to add their own objections, as Raf realized that Fowler knew where they were, and Miko figured Fowler would back down from any Transformer after his confrontation with Bulk.

Fortunately for them, Raf managed to hack into the government database in order to track down Fowler and Bulkhead immediately bridged there, leaving Jack in charge. Jack turned to the others to find other ideas about what they could do, and immediately discovered that Miko was gone, through the ground bridge with Bulkhead! She couldn't have worried Jack more unless she had bridged herself straight to Megatron himself! "Miko hasn't seen the 'Cons in action like we have," Jack mentioned to Raf. "She has no idea what she's in for." Luckily, Bulk's coordinates were still locked in, so Jack decided to go after her, but not before turning to Raf and telling him "You're in charge."

"In charge of who?" he asked.

"Not who, what. You're going to run the ground bridge for us. Optimus and Ratchet are still out there, and when Bulkhead realizes Miko is there, he'll either call for support or a bridge, which means you're needed right here." Raf nodded, and activated the bridge, allowing Jack to join Miko and Bulk on the other side.

_April 21, 2012-McCullough Range, NV_

Jack had to say, so far he preferred this kind of bridging over Jetfire's bridge, there was a far smaller chance of getting hurt. Unfortunately the first thing he laid eyes on was the Decepticons ship, _not_ Miko or Bulkhead, and the 'Cons had spotted him. "Scrap," he whispered, and, unbeknownst to him, in perfect unison with Miko and Bulk. The 'Cons immediately opened fire, and Jack immediately started dodging the shots with inhuman agility. If he knew where Bulk and Miko were, he'd have started shooting, but he wasn't quite ready to reveal his secret to them and so, he resorted to simply dodging, while vowing to himself to get some human weapons, whether he stayed with the Bots or not! Bulkhead quickly showed up, allowing Jack to jump in. "Wh-What are you doing here?" he asked in shock.

"We were worried about Miko, she's not at base. Have you seen her?" Jack asked.

Then, as cheeky as you please, Miko popped up in the back and asked "What's she look like?"

Before they could continue the conversation, Bulk drove up behind a large pile of rubble so that the rubble was between him and the ship and kicked them out. Jack was grateful to get out, but just as Bulk drove off, he realized that Miko had stayed in Bulk. "Oh, she is _so_ going to regret that," Jack grinned, remembering how Sam had fared during the Beltway battle. He quickly ran to the side of the rubble to watch Bulkhead work. The muscle car drove to a point under the ship before turning around to use a rise in the ground as a ramp so he could climb up to the ship where he immediately threw one of the . . . were those drones? off the ship. Once on the top of the ship, he beheaded one drone with his maces before using the body as a shield and body-slamming another drone. Only then did he realize that Miko wasn't with Jack. Both of them were incredibly surprised to find that Miko was _still inside_ Bulkhead at the time! "Miko?!" Bulk asked in surprise when he revealed her insider his chest.

"I heaved on your floor mats, sorry," she told him (clearly still suffering from motion sickness,) just before he set her down. "Remind me never to do that," she continued, just before he was tackled by another drone. Bulk quickly crushed the drone, but not before more drones appeared and started firing at him. He shot another one, but realizing he would never last against their numbers, quickly tore what appeared to be a satellite dish off the ship and used it as a weapon to take down the remaining reinforcements.

But while Jack watched Bulk in action, another drone appeared behind him and picked him up, carrying him into the ship as a second prisoner, though not before running into . . . was that possibly Soundwave? He sure looked different from Sam's memories! The 'Con seemed to scan him, then, apparently making a decision, took his phone, did something to it, but then just gave it back to Jack before walking off. "Bring him to the brig, Commander Starscream is keeping the other prisoner there," a drone ordered to the one holding Jack. Jack grinned at that, and even more so when he noticed that Bee and Arcee had arrived to back up Bulkhead. Once the two drones were down, Jack turned to the duo and said "Thanks, you couldn't have timed that better."

"We appreciate you clearing the front door for us, but storming the Decepticon warship was _not_ on the activities list," Arcee told her charge.

Naturally Jack could not resist replying "Tell me about it. But you have to admit, there _wasn't_ an activities list. You left before we could create one. Besides, at least I managed to convince Raf to stay behind, right?"

Arcee had to agree with that, and they turned to find Bulkhead. They eventually found him by Arcee nearly shooting him. "Brought the humans, huh?" Arcee joked.

"You try getting them to stay behind!" Bulkhead protested.

"Hey, I'm only here because Miko refused to stay behind!" Jack retorted.

"Well, we need to find Fowler and get you two out of here," Arcee responded.

"Uh, he's in the brig," Jack explained. As the trio of 'Bots fought their way to the brig, Jack was constantly pulling or pushing Miko out of the way so that neither would be crushed by the flying debris, or, on occasion, falling 'Bots. Fortunately for the duo, Arcee quickly realized that it was too dangerous for them and cleared a room for them to stay in. "Wait in here," she ordered. Bee tried to object, but Arcee shut him down. "They're slowing us down, easy targets, and it's too dangerous for them. They'll be alright in here, as long as they stay put," she finished, looking directly at the teens.

" _That_ was intense!" Miko exclaimed in joy.

"Was? What were you thinking, Miko? We could all have been killed because of you!" Jack admonished her.

"Did I _ask_ you to follow me?"

"I was simply trying to do what Optimus would have wanted, keep you safe!"

"But you're _not_ Optimus, and you can leave my protection to Bulkhead, thank you very much!" To Jack's surprise, she was mad enough to actually _hit_ him! And she didn't just hit him, she punched him in a place that, if he were fully human, would have left him gasping for breath. Unfortunately for Miko, he _wasn't_ fully human, and she was left with an aching hand. "God, Jack, that's not a six-pack, that's a steel keg! I know guys like to say that they have muscles of steel, but I didn't think they meant it literally!"

Jack turned his head so that she wouldn't see his smirk, then his eyes widened as he saw something that the 'Cons were working on. He quickly pulled out his phone and called the base, but not before telling Miko to take a picture of it. "Raf, Miko's about to send you a picture of something. Tell me what you make of it."

Within seconds of Miko sending the picture, Raf replied. _"It's important. I don't know what it's for, but I know math when I see it, and that is one serious equation. Any chance you could download it?"_

"Sorry Raf, no can do. Even if we had a flash drive, there's no place to plug it into. This ship is pure Cybertronian, no human-compatible tech anywhere." Just then another drone came into the room. "Sorry Raf, but I have to go now. We're on the Decepticon's warship, and another drone just came in here!" Unfortunately for him, he took too long ending the call and the drone spotted him, forcing him and Miko to leave the room or be killed.

But just before the drone could shoot again, Bulkhead showed up just in time to crush it, and the other 'Bots were not far behind. Arcee had one thing to say to her charge: "I told you to stay put!"

"Hey, we did until the drone found us. What were we supposed to do, let it kill us?" Arcee had to give him that, and quickly led them off the ship and into Raf's waiting ground bridge.

_April 21, 2012-Autobot Outpost Omega One, NV_

Within minutes of their return to the base, Optimus and Ratchet also returned, and it was clear that they had also returned from a battle, and a bad one if the damage on Ratchet was anything to go by. Miko actually sounded worried when she asked what happened to them, and Ratchet explained that they had fought a whole _army_ of undead Transformers. Then she was back to her old self as she exclaimed "Zombies? You fought zombies and I missed it?"

"Miko, don't you think what we went through was intense enough?!" Jack asked in shock. Miko simply ignored him. Optimus then chastised Bulk for letting them go with him, and Miko tried to defend him. Jack then turned to Raf and asked "Haven't you shown them that equation yet?"

"No, actually. I haven't had a chance to yet."

"Equation? What equation?" Ratchet demanded. Miko picked up her phone to show him, but when he looked, he pulled back in confusion. "I . . . don't understand."

Miko, also confused, took a look at the picture she had pulled up. "Oh, that's the 'Con that tried to blow Jack away. Or at least that's what he looked like _before_ Bulkhead rearranged his grille!"

Jack finally lost his temper with the girl again. "Miko, we were almost killed! This isn't a game, this is war. When are you going to get it through your thick skull?"

"Um, we were _all_ almost killed. You, me, Fowler, even them."

Then Jack made the hardest decision of his life. "Well, if this was just an average day with the Autobots, then I don't want to be a part of it. Not anymore. God, I didn't even want to be a part of this to begin with!"

"Jack, putting you in harm's way was never out intent," Optimus stated. "However, it is no longer the safety of you three that is at risk from Megatron, but the safety of the entire human race. We will respect your decision if you wish to leave."

Immediately after Optimus finished speaking, Ratchet opened the ground bridge. "No point in long goodbyes, here's the door."

Jack really wished he could teach the medic a lesson before he left, but he knew he couldn't. Then, making one last attempt at protecting Raf, he asked the younger boy to come with him. Raf just turned to look at Bee's pitiful look (one that Jack knew all too well,) and said "I'll be okay, Jack. See you at school."

"Sure thing," he replied, and walked to the bridge. But before he could leave, Arcee stepped in front of him. "I know, you don't exist," Jack said, cutting her off.

"Don't make me hunt you down," the femme replied as he walked past her. But because he never looked back, he missed the sadness in her eyes. He never turned back, despite the pain in his spark that he knew came from her.


	4. Darkness Rising Part 3

April 22, 2012-Alamo, NV

Jack was feeling absolutely terrible. Ever since he left the Autobots, he couldn't get them out of his head, or stop feeling so guilty. Though he buried himself in homework and his job, he couldn't stifle Sam's voice in his head saying that he had abandoned Optimus, that he had abandoned his family. Miko had come by the previous night to try and convince him to come back by appealing to his sense of adventure, but he was still resolved enough at the time to say no. Now, he almost felt like Hatchet on a bad day could convince him to come back if he tried! Wait, did he just seriously think that? Luckily for him, he didn't jinx himself, as when he got off work, it was Arcee waiting for him. "Nice bike," she jokingly said about his current mode of transport.

But despite his burning desire to return, he had to try to live a normal life. "Arcee, really, Miko already tried. Tell Optimus I respect him big time, but if you're at war with the Decepticons, there's nothing I can do to help." The by-now nearly infinitesimal part of him that still wanted to be normal, despite the memories and knowledge he held, hoped that she would be discouraged and leave.

But Arcee was tougher than he had hoped. "Optimus didn't send me, and no one's asking for your help."

"Okay, so if we both agree that I'm not warrior material, then why are you here?"

"Jack, you know I just lost someone I cared about. Maybe it's the grief talking, maybe you're growing on me, maybe it's the fact that when you left, it felt like my spark was breaking. But whatever it is, I'm just not ready to say goodbye."

Jack's own spark nearly broke at that, and he couldn't do anything but say "Alright, I'll come back with you, Arcee." And with that, he climbed aboard and the two of them rode back to the base.

Oddly enough, by the time they arrived, Optimus was ordering the 'Bots to roll out. When Arcee asked where they were going, Miko's simple response was "The final frontier."

"Space? But I thought you didn't have any way to get there?" Jack had to ask. Raf confirmed they didn't, except for an extremely dangerous attempt to use the groundbridge.

As such, they quickly said their goodbyes, though Jack was now sorely tempted to reveal his secret just to be able to watch over them. Ratchet on the other hand was quite simply upset at the risk. "Optimus, if you leave me stranded on a planet teeming with humans, I will never forgive you."

While they waited for news, Raf filled Jack in with what Optimus had figured out since he left. Apparently Megatron had returned with a substance called Dark Energon-a substance with the ability to revive the dead, and was planning on launching it through his space bridge to Cybertron in order to raise an enormous army of zombiecons to conquer the Earth and defeat Optimus. Yet five minutes after the Nemesis arrived at the spacebridge, nothing had happened. Curious, Optimus quickly scanned the ship and discovered that the Nemesis' interstellar navigation system had been damaged. When Bulk mentioned that he had done that, Jack just barely managed to keep from laughing as he realized that that must have been the dish that Bulk had used the previous day! When Optimus mentioned that, as a result of the damage, Megatron wouldn't be able to lock onto Cybertron, Raf had an objection. "Wait, don't the Decepticons know where their own planet is?"

Jack spoke up before Ratchet could. "Of course they do, Raf, but Cybertron is thousands of light-years away. If the spacebridge is off by so much as a millimeter, the vortex could miss Cybertron by light-years. Their aim has to literally be astronomically precise, or it's just a waste of Energon." Optimus agreed, but added the caveat that Megatron wouldn't have come without a way to aim the bridge remotely.

Ratchet could only scoff at the idea. "From what I know of Earth's technology, I doubt there exists a single radio telescope dish on this planet powerful enough to pinpoint Cybertron."

"What about a whole bunch of linked radio telescope dishes?" Raf suggested. "Like the Very Large Array in New Mexico," he offered as an example.

"Hmm, good idea, Raf," Jack said. "But how will we know which one is the right array? I mean, there are something like a dozen arrays just in America."

"That is actually the easy part," Ratchet stated. "Though it's rare that we do so, we can find the Decepticons, if they aren't in a shielded area, such as a mine or the Nemesis. So, assuming that Soundwave will actually be there instead of remotely controlling the array, we will be able to find him easily," Ratchet explained. Going to the computer, he quickly scanned New Mexico and found nothing. He then widened his search until "Ah hah! Soundwave is at the Hat Creek Observatory, using the Allen Telescope Array." Jack raised his eyebrows at that and asked Ratchet to repeat Soundwave's location. When Ratchet did so, Jack couldn't help but burst out laughing. "And what is so funny?"

Jack didn't speak again until he caught his breath, then he explained. "The Allen Array is controlled by SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, an organization dedicated to finding alien life! How ironic can you get?" Raf and Miko both started laughing at that while Raf went to work hacking into the array, but he failed, unable to get inside SETI's firewalls. "Raf, what if we could get you all the way in? Like inside the building in? Would you be able to stop Soundwave from locking onto Cybertron? Would you be willing to take the risk?" Optimus immediately refused, but Jack wasn't taking it. "Optimus, with all due respect, you said it yourself yesterday, this is bigger than the safety of three humans. It should be up to Raf whether or not he goes to the array."

Miko immediately voiced her support, and Optimus decided to leave it up to Raf. Raf didn't hesitate to say "I want to give it a shot." Ratchet gave the young hacker one of his rare smiles, and opened the ground bridge.

April 22, 2012-Hat Creek Observatory-290 Miles North of San Francisco

Seconds later, and the trio were on their first official mission for the Autobots. They managed to enter the control center of the array easily, as the door wasn't locked, and no one was in the building. Miko made a point of mentioning that "Security sure is lax in this place. Hey, what are you doing?" she asked when she saw that Jack was placing a chair at one corner of the room they'd chosen to work in.

"This place has been abandoned for a few years due to a lack of funding and was only reactivated about six months ago. As for what I'm doing, remember, Soundwave is here, so when Raf starts messing with the telescopes, he's going to be searching the building just to be sure. Better he finds out that a camera isn't working than know that we're actually here," Jack replied as he cut the cord leading from the camera to the wall. As he did so, Raf hacked into the telescope controls and discovered the spacebridge schematics and immediately downloaded them while battling Soundwave and his attempts to align the bridge. As the two battled for control of the telescopes, a piece of the schematics showed who was winning: three overlapping spheres, two of which finished overlapping as they watched, and the last grew closer to the others when Soundwave was winning and further apart when Raf was.

Soundwave could not understand what was happening. Why was it that just when it seemed he had finished locking onto Cybertron at this location, the dishes seemed to move against him? Laserbeak had encountered no trouble at the other two sites, so why here? He quickly scanned through the security tapes (humans were so courteous to him in providing them,) and found nothing except for one dead camera. Curious. He reversed the data stream and found the problem: three of the dominant native life forms that couldn't be more than the human equivalent of mechlings at the most!

Soundwave was a rarity among the Decepticons. Not only did he rarely fight and not only was he Megatron's information guru, he also had a code of honour that even the staunchest Autobot would appreciate. He was loyal, he never tortured anyone or did any of those terrible experiments like the monster Airachnid or Knockout loved to do, and he absolutely refused to kill anyone unless they were actual fighters. So a situation like this was extremely difficult for him. What could he do? He needed to complete his mission, yet he would never kill these humans, so what could be done that would satisfy both Megatron and his honour?

Then the solution came to him: all he needed to do was buy enough time for him to finish his mission and then cut the hard-line so that the youngest (was he even a mechling yet, or was he still a youngling?) couldn't stop him. The master spy sent one of his cords into their room and quickly grabbed the eldest human and tossed him around a little, while accidentally catching the femme in the process. Once they were out of the way, he sent the cord after his nemesis, scaring him away from the computer long enough to destroy it. When the femme tried to attack him with a human weapon (designation: axe,) he knocked her away while grabbing the axe. Soundwave was about to scare them when he completed his mission, so he retracted the cord and used the axe to cut the hard-line. The trio of humans burst in on him as he was about to leave, and the femme took a picture of him, so he did the same before transforming and flying to the ship. Megatron would be pleased.

April 22, 2012-Alamo, NV

They had all failed. Raf had failed to keep the spacebridge from locking on to Cybertron, and now Optimus had failed to keep the Dark Energon from going through to Cybertron. Jack's entire being had burned when the Dark Energon hit Cybertron, he knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that the Dark Energon was the blood of Unicron the Chaos Bringer, and now it had infected Primus' body, raising all the dead on Cybertron. No, my child,a voice suddenly said in his mind. It sounded vaguely like the Seven had when they spoke to Sam. That is because I am, in some way, their father. I am Primus. The dead that Megatron is now in control of are only those that were never properly buried, though the blood of Unicron does harm me. Primus himself! Sam had never had a conversation with the creator of the Transformers, the being that had become Cybertron! But why was he contacting him now? It is because I wish to give you hope, my child. Even now Ratchet and Raf are telling Arcee how to destroy the spacebridge, thus saving your world. Darkness is rising on your world, Jackson Darby, and you will help the Autobots to combat it, eventually as your true self. If all goes well, then the war will end soon, and all will be one again.

Why me, Primus? Why was I chosen for this? And how will I know when the time is right to reveal the truth?

My child, your fate was tied to Optimus even before Sam's essence merged with you. It is your destiny throughout the multiverse to meet my children, only the circumstances change. In this one, even without Sam's influence, you would have still met Arcee, still left and still returned to the Autobots. The only difference is that now, you will be able to be able to influence the outcome far more than if you were merely human. And you will know the time is right to reveal your secret when you see an old friend arrive here. He shall call you another name, and when he recovers, then shall you reveal the truth about yourself. Now, return to your family, for they have succeeded.

Primus left none too soon, as Jack immediately felt a severe hit to his gut, and he knew that Arcee had been hurt, badly. Jack didn't notice Ratchet opening the groundbridge, nor did he hear when the medic tell Optimus. His only thought was to Arcee, and their weakening bond. He quickly sent her a burst of AllSpark energy so that she could hold on just long enough for Ratchet to be able to start his repairs.

After what seemed to be an eternity of waiting, the Autobots started coming in. Optimus had clearly gone up against Megatron, and bore the wounds of his match against the undefeated gladiator of Kaon. Bulkhead looked no worse for the wear, then Bumblebee came running in, carrying Arcee. Both boys ran for the duo, Jack immediately going to hold Arcee's limp hand. He barely heard Ratchet ask the AllSpark that they wouldn't have to lose a second member, as he watched her eyes flutter and then barely open. "Arcee," he whispered, barely holding in the pain and fear.

"Really, Jack? There are other motorcycles in the world," she joked back.

He smiled back at her. "But you're my first, and no other bike on Earth could compare to you." He then turned to Sam's former guardian and said "Thanks for getting her, Bee. I don't know if I can ever repay you."

Then, to his surprise, Bee answered back saying "Ah, it was nothing." Raf quickly translated (sort of, he said that it meant 'don't mention it,') and Ratchet led his patient back to the med-room.

Just then, Miko asked Optimus the most pertinent question ever: "So, is this the part where you say goodbye and tell us we need to forget we ever saw you?"

Optimus pondered that before answering. "I do not know, Miko. Bulkhead and Bumblebee will accompany you home tonight, while I decide the answer to your question."

Without a means of leaving this world, we Autobots take strength in the bonds we have forged with our three young friends. True warriors, if not in body, then in spirit. My name is Optimus Prime, and I send this message: though we did not choose to be of Earth, it would seem we are here to stay. If you approach this planet with hostile intent, know this: we will defend ourselves. We will defend humanity. We will defend our home.

May 13, 2012-Somewhere in Afghanistan

For the second time in two days, Soundwave had to wonder just what Starscream was thinking in raising these sleeping warriors when the only reason Megatron would leave them there was because they were completely loyal to him. Oh well, at least it relieved the monotony of the day. But then, nothing could compare to what had happened yesterday! He had made no better decision than to bug Jack's phone! Oh, how Ratchet provided laughs then. He actually tried to help humans with their science projects and then took over the projects and turned them into projects that a youngling would do! Surely, even the most ignorant Cybertronian wouldn't do something so foolish, or at least, so he had thought. Fortunately for the humans, Jack convinced the others to complete their projects on their own and turned in Ratchet's projects after the class as evidence of their 'internship.' The teacher, having seen them, pronounced them 'the worst scientific creations I have ever seen, they show little if any hint of anything even resembling promise in the field of robotics.' And while Ratchet was a source of amusement, Jack was an enigma. The oddest thing was that when Ratchet suggested that they learn more about Cybertron, Jack scoffed at the suggestion, almost as if he couldn't learn more about Cybertron. Why would he think that? Too bad the locator beacon wasn't working, why was that?

Just as he finished reminiscing, they arrived at the second sarcophagus, and this one contained a Decepticon far more dangerous than Skyquake could ever be. This sleeper was as loyal to Megatron as Soundwave was himself, yet his weapons were powerful enough that it just might be possible for him to beat Megatron, and the few times that he had battled Optimus, the Prime had taken some serious damage. And to make things worse, this one was a true monster, willing to kill anyone and destroy anything in order to complete his mission, even sparklings!

As at the resting place of Skyquake, Starscream proclaimed himself the warrior's new master. "I serve only one master, as you well know, Stiletto!" the mech declared, calling him by the nickname he had created for the Seeker.

"Yes, well, about him, Megatron is quite possibly on his way to join the Well of All Sparks. So, until he awakens, I am you master."

The other mech seemed about to laugh, until it looked at Soundwave, who simply shook his head. No, this was not the time to eliminate him, for now, play along. So, the mech did so. "Very well, Commander Starscream. Until Lord Megatron awakens, Blackout is yours to command." Blackout then transformed to his original, Cybertronian alt mode and followed the duo, until he discovered a US military helicopter, model MH-53 type J/M Pave Low which he quickly scanned and reformatted into. With an appropriate vehicle mode acquired, the trio bridged back to the Nemesis, prepared for another showdown with Optimus and his allies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, quick note: Primus will only show up a few times, much like Alpha Trion did. I don't expect he will show up more than three or four times in the entire story.


	5. Con Jobs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, any lines in full italics will be Bumblebee. Also, a few of my reviewers asked some very good questions. First: why do I say that Jack and the others live in Alamo, NV when the show calls it Jasper? The simple answer is this: for the most part, I don't like to use fictional places when real ones would work just as well. Sometimes I keep the fictional cities, but it is rare. Besides, if you take a look at Alamo, NV, you'll see it is very similar to Jasper, near some military bases (including one very famous/infamous base,) and has a population just barely over 1,000-a very quiet town, and perfect for my future plans for this story. Second, someone asked me about the threat of hacks. Well, thanks to fellow Transformers author Karmic Acumen, I have an answer but the explanation will come in for Sick Mind along with the explanation of the cortical psychic patch. Third, another reviewer noticed that it seems as though it's all thanks to Carly that the Bey-verse 'Bots lost at Chicago. Well, to that I say yes and no. Yes in that it was her intervention with Megatron that saved Optimus from Sentinel. No in that Wheelie and Brains maneuver with the Con ship took out some Autobots, including Bumblebee, helping lead to their ultimate failure. Also, there was a slight change in Darkness Rising Part 2 concerning who Fowler works for, one that makes this one of the few stories that are technically crossovers and keeps the Transformers in their proper universe.

_May 19, 2012-Autobot Outpost Omega One, NV_

For once, Jack actually had to get a ride with Bumblebee and Raf in order to get to base. When they arrived Jack immediately asked what was going on. Arcee responded with "Tag team, Jack. It's my turn for exploration duty."

She didn't sound too thrilled at the idea, so Jack thought up an idea. "Exploration, huh? That doesn't sound too bad. Could I come along?"

" _Arctic_ exploration duty."

Jack's eyebrows rose in shock. "Arctic? Never mind, New York's winters were bad enough."

"Yeah, right," Miko said in annoyance. "Like you've been anywhere outside Alamo."

Jack just laughed at the Japanese girl. "Miko, you have no idea what I know or have been through." Just then, right after Optimus and Arcee went through the groundbridge, the controls sparked almost dangerously. Curious, Jack went over to watch Ratchet at work.

Ratchet immediately called the other two 'Bots to him, which Bulkhead immediately protested. "I need some heavy lifting, the groundbridge is down."

 _"What about Arcee and Optimus? Did it happen while they were in transport?"_ Jack had to agree with Bumblebee's worries there. Oh, he wasn't worried that something had happened during transport, the spark-bond told him that much, but he _was_ worried about whether they could bring them back.

Ratchet agreed with Jack that the duo had made it to the Arctic, and he was also worried about bringing them back and immediately had Bee and Bulk get to work. Once a panel had been pulled out of the floor, Ratchet checked on the circuit boards and said "We most definitely have a problem."

"Hey, Ratchet, why does the circuit board look like something has been _eating_ it?" Jack asked.

"I have no idea, Jack." Then the lights flickered twice. "Might be a problem with the main grid. Hopefully it isn't a substation malfunction."

Just then, Jack spotted something come into the main room from one of the corridors. "Hey, why didn't you guys say you had pets?"

"Because we don't Ja-AHH!" Ratchet cried out (in _fear?_ ) when he spotted the tiny metal being that was almost all head and eyes. Immediately all the 'Bots activated their cannons and aimed them at the creature.

The other kids ran in front of the creature, while Jack simply wanted an explanation. "What's going on? What is it?"

"Scraplet! SCRAPLET!" Bulkhead nearly shrieked in fear.

"What's a scraplet?" Raf asked, picking it up.

"The most dangerous vermin ever to crawl upon the face of Cybertron," Ratchet explained.

Miko scoffed at that, simply because the scraplet was only about the size of a cat. "Miko, how big are _our_ vermin compared to us? By definition, a vermin is a small _but dangerous_ creature. Or do I need to mention spiders?" Jack teased, knowing of the girl's severe case of arachnophobia. Bulkhead quickly agreed with Jack, but the duo remained unconvinced, until the scraplet caught sight of the 'Bots.

That's when the vermin's true nature was revealed. As soon as it laid eyes on the Autobots, it went into what Jack could only describe as a feeding frenzy as it's mouth opened up to reveal at least six rows of sharp, vibrating teeth and ran towards the 'Bots. It managed to dodge the three shots that Bulkhead and Bee got off and then started _eating Bumblebee's leg!_ Well, Jack couldn't allow that, so he pulled out the Glock pistol he had bought a month earlier and shot it through it's eyes, instantly killing it. There was a moment of silence before Raf finally spoke up. "I don't know what's more shocking, what happened with the scraplet, or Jack."

" _Let's start with Jack. Since when do human mechlings carry weapons?_ "

As soon as Ratchet translated, Jack explained. "Well, I decided after the misadventure on the _Nemesis_ that I should probably start carrying something to defend myself with, something that wouldn't attract too much attention." Ratchet was quick to scoff, as usual, but Jack shut that down quickly. "It's not about the weapon, it's how you use it, Ratchet. So long as I aim at the right spot, say for example an optic, a basic human weapon could do a lot of damage. Now, would that be the only scraplet, or are there more?"

"No, when it comes to scraplets, there's never just one. And I fear I know how they got in," Ratchet said. And with that, he went straight for the former ice cube. When they found it, it was clear what had happened, and what it was. "It's a trap, a scraplet trap," Ratchet explained. "Most likely sent into space eons ago, only to wind up in the arctic where the temperature kept them in stasis."

"Until you guys discovered it and thawed it," Raf realized. Then he gulped at a revelation he had. "How many are we talking about?"

"904,777," Jack rattled off. Once again everyone stared at him in shock. "Bulkhead's about 60 feet tall, right? And given the fact that he's about half the size of the trap, it's easy to figure out the volume of the trap, about 904,778 cubic feet. Considering an individual scraplet can't be more than one cubic foot, that's 904,778 scraplets, minus the one that I already shot." They still stared at him, so he rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. "I'm really good with math."

"Jack is probably right. The power malfunctions and the groundbridge damage are sure signs that their infestation is well under way," Ratchet agreed. They returned to the central control room where Ratchet tried calling Optimus and Arcee, but "The scraplets have gotten into the comm systems! If we don't eradicate these creatures immediately, they will reduce the entire _base_ to a scrapheap!"

"I say we bug out of here and let them keep it!" Bulkhead immediately suggested, with Bumblebee quickly agreeing.

"We can't," Jack said immediately. "Not with Optimus and Arcee stranded in the Arctic. Optimus said that conditions were too harsh right now even for you, so unless we beat the scraplets and repair the groundbridge, we lose them both."

Miko was shocked to hear her big, tough guardian so enthusiastic about running, which lead to Bulkhead telling the kids exactly what a swarm of scraplets could do to a bot (something Jack could have lived his life without knowing.) And this time, it was Raf who came up with the idea that saved them. "You got to let us help, we're not made of metal so the scraplets won't hurt us."

"Typically I find your fleshiness to be your least engaging quality," Ratchet thought aloud. "But it would appear to provide an advantage, under these extremes."

"Alright, then we pair off, one 'Bot, one human. Bee, Raf, Miko and Bulk will go hunting, while you repair the bridge and comms and I watch your back," Jack quickly decided. Miko looked excited, but Bee and Bulkhead could only whimper at the idea of actually _looking_ for the scraplets.

After the pairs went off, and Ratchet started the repairs, the medic decided to ask a question that had been bothering him for a month. "Jack, do you remember how we discovered Megatron was working with Dark Energon?"

"Yeah, you found some on Arcee after his life signal showed up again. Why'd you ask?"

"Well, you had a reaction to the Dark Energon, one that Miko and Rafael did not exhibit. I was wondering if you know why that is."

Jack groaned. So, this was the first time he'd have to either lie or deflect to protect his secret until this _proper moment_ Primus mentioned. But _why_ did it have to be the Hatchet? Wait, there was a third option for what he could say. "It's a long story, Ratchet, and definitely not one for right now. Maybe when we have some uninterrupted time I'll explain, but definitely not now. How's it going over there?"

"I decided to focus on the groundbridge, as bringing Optimus and Arcee home is our top priority. I've repaired the damaged conductors and rerouted the central conduits, but it still isn't receiving power!"

"Okay, calm down Hatchet. What else could be causing the problems?" Jack said, slipping on the old nickname for the medic. But before Ratchet could answer, Jack heard the tell-tale clicking sound of scraplets moving. He quickly turned towards the source and discovered dozens of the pests clustered around an air vent. Jack immediately started shooting them, but it only brought their attention to Ratchet, where they immediately displayed an ability he hadn't known they had. "They fly?! You never said they could fly!" Jack yelled at the medic before the scraplets started devouring him.

Unfortunately, Jack knew that there was no way he could destroy all of the scraplets without risking them trying to eat him and decided to find another way to destroy them. Ratchet quickly came through by suggesting "The fire extinguisher!" Jack immediately understood the idea and turned it on the scraplets. He quickly cleared Ratchet's body of them before tossing it into the air and shooting it, taking out the scraplets still in the air, just as Bulkhead and Bumblebee returned.

While the trio of youths made certain the scraplets were permanently offline, Jack was making a quick count of the scraplets. "5,000, that's not enough, not nearly enough."

"Hardly, these were just scouts," Ratchet agreed.

"Meaning the other 900,000 know you're here, and if they get here before we can repair the groundbridge, then not only will they eat you guys, but Optimus and Arcee will freeze to death. So, how do we repair the groundbridge?" Jack asked.

"What good will that do?" Bulkhead demanded. "If we bring Optimus and Arcee back, the scraplets will just eat them as well as us!"

"Unless we send the scraplets to the arctic first," Raf suggested. "They would freeze a lot sooner than you guys would, and we'd be able to bring the others home. We'd just need bait to get the scraplets to go _through_ the bridge."

Ratchet was quick to agree. "Given the body mass of the scraplets, sub-zero temperatures _should_ freeze them on contact. So think Ratchet, think! If the groundbridge is still down, there must be a breach in the Energon fuel line!"

The trio were quickly given instructions on where to find the line and how to fix it and followed the line to the breach, which oddly enough had _not_ been caused by the scraplets. Jack quickly welded much of the metal sheet they'd brought along to fix the breach, but ran out of fuel before he could finish. Looking at the welding torch, Jack discovered that somehow, a scraplet had taken a bite out of it. "Now what do we do?" Raf asked.

"You guys go on and tell Ratchet to be ready with the bridge, I'll take care of this," Jack answered. Reluctantly, the others left for the control room, while Jack quickly transformed one of his fingers into a blowtorch and finished the job while keeping a close watch on the scraplets. Just as he finished, the remaining 900,000 scraplets took off and flew towards the command center, with Jack hot on their heels. Jack though was much slower than the scraplets, and by the time he arrived, the bridge was open, and Bulkhead was going through it, with the scraplets right behind.

A few hours later, Optimus and Arcee had been completely defrosted, and the recoveries from the scraplet attacks were going well. When Optimus complimented Ratchet on his work, Jack heard something he thought he'd never hear. "It wasn't all my doing. We're just fortunate that this infestation happened on a Saturday."

Just then, Miko started screaming. Raf immediately pulled out a crowbar and asked if she'd seen a scraplet. But no, Miko asked about a very human problem: a spider. Everyone turned to watch as she ran away, with Bulkhead asking "Did she just scream like a little girl?"

Jack just laughed at that. "Technically speaking, she _is_ a little girl, besides, who are you to ask that? I heard that you have a _very_ femmish scream yourself." Bulkhead blushed at that (or rather, did a very good impression of blushing,) leading everyone but Optimus to start laughing at the large 'Bot.

While the others were all laughing at his comment, Jack slipped away to his workroom. Ever since the interruption by Agent Fowler, Jack had been unable to continue to regenerate the Cube, and since he apparently did not have the connection to the Primes that Sam had, he had no idea why he couldn't continue the work. As it was, Jack had one idea left: perhaps if he could discover his spark-song, it would help him continue work on the Allspark. For the spark did not have a regular beat like a human heart. No, it pulsed to a tune of music, each one as unique as a fingerprint, but one couldn't hear their spark-song, or any others immediately, they had to search for it, much as Jack would. However, after discovering their own spark-song, they could then hear _every_ spark-song in range of their hearing. So, he sat down and started meditating, hoping it would work. Luckily for him, a mere half an hour later, he opened his eyes in shock. Not only did he find his spark-song, he _knew_ that song! "Huh, _E for Extinction_. I guess that makes sense," Jack decided. He then went back to the Cube, (what little there was of it,) and tried to channel the Cube energy into it, and for the first time in weeks, he succeeded.

_May 26, 2012-Autobot Outpost Omega One_

A week after the infestation, the Bots received a message from an old friend and comrade-in-arms of Bulkhead's named Wheeljack. Apparently, the two had been close friends when they were members of the special-ops team known as the Wreckers, a team that Sam had been all too familiar with after Sentinel's betrayal. That particular group of Wreckers had been nothing but a pain in the ass to deal with, especially after Chicago, but apparently they were nothing like this universe's Wreckers. Sam's Wreckers had been engineers, while these Wreckers were the best of the best, ones that, to quote Bulkhead, "don't call for back-up, they call for clean-up." Wheeljack in particular was one of the most dangerous, being an inventor and an expert with explosives. Jack had to keep himself from snapping his fingers in realization: Sam had known Wheeljack, sort of. Sam's Wheeljack had also been a front-lines soldier and inventor, but after a bad accident that nearly killed him, he was rebuilt and choose to become the eccentric inventor Que-the first Autobot casualty in the hell known as Chicago. As such, Jack was only somewhat looking forward to meeting the Autobot.

Miko actually had the gall to suggest Wheeljack find another human, until Jack reminded her about Fowler's reaction to the three of them being there. Speaking of Fowler, he was a complete mystery to Jack. He had mentioned working for the Triskelion, but when he searched the Web for it, all he found was a pair of government groups called the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division and the Sentient World Observation and Response Division. Oddly enough, he couldn't find much out about either group, except that the first had been founded around the end of World War II, (and possibly connected to the Strategic Science Reserve,) and there was almost nothing connected to the second organization. As a result, Jack had turned to Raf and asked him to see what he could find out about the groups, though so far he hadn't had any luck.

Just then, an alarm sounded, warning the 'Bots that Wheeljack was being attacked by the 'Cons, and Bulkhead, Bee and Arcee went through the bridge to help him. A few minutes later, they returned with Wheeljack, but instantly Jack was suspicious of him. Due to how close Bulk had said they were, Jack had expected his spark song to be something similar to Bulk's own _Navras_ , instead it was something radically different: _Agent of Chaos_ , then his suspicions were raised again when Optimus asked about his journeys, he was extremely vague. His suspicions were raised yet again an hour later when, during a game called lobbing, Wheeljack 'attempted' to catch their ball in such a way that it ended up bouncing off his fingers into the ceiling and passing right by the groundbridge controls. Wheeljack apologized, then started asking questions about the bridge. "Built this bridge from scratch, huh?"

"I did," Ratchet replied.

"That's quite a feat of engineering."

"Yes, it is."

"Somethin' . . . wrong with it?" There was something about the way he asked that that made Jack watch him even more closely, and reach for the boom stick he had made the previous afternoon.

"I didn't care for the way it sounded this last jump. I put it in shut-down," Ratchet replied to the question.

"What if you need to use it?" 'Wheeljack' continued.

"Ooh, I can't interrupt the defrag process without causing irreparable damage."

"So, uhh, how long will the defrag take?"

"A few hours, if we're lucky. Maybe longer."

A few lobs passed before Miko demanded to hear a war story, during which 'Wheeljack' was almost as silent as Soundwave. When Bulkhead noticed the same thing, 'Wheeljack' claimed he needed to get out of the base, something he seemed far too eager to do, until he suggested Miko take him on a tour. Arcee noticed something was off about Bulk so she asked if he was alright. "Yeah, just . . . outta sorts I guess." Arcee immediately guessed that he was jealous of Wheeljack. "C'mon!" Bulk denied. "Something . . . something's not right about Wheeljack."

"Bulkhead, really? He's traveled galaxies. You haven't seen him for centuries. He could just be rocketlagged or . . . well, Bot's do change, you know?"

"Not Jackie," Bulkhead insisted.

"I have to side with Bulk on this," Jack added.

" _Really?_ " Ratchet asked in contempt. "And what would you know about how Wheeljack is supposed to act?"

"Not a thing, but isn't it just a little odd that he seemed desperate to get out of the base? Since he got here, he's asked a _lot_ of questions about the groundbridge, asked to go up top, and volunteered to go out on patrol. Then there's the fact that he is nearly silent about the Wrecker's missions. Every veteran I know _loves_ to tell stories of the battles they were in," Jack countered. Ratchet just dismissed Jack's worries, while Arcee had to admit that he had some good points. They were still debating when 'Wheeljack' and Miko returned. "Hey, what are you guys . . . talking about?" he asked.

Bulk then set a trap for him. "I was telling the guys all about you and me, at the Battle of Darkmount Pass."

"That's . . . a heck of a story."

"Yep. _Tell it_ ," Bulk demanded.

Miko tried to calm her guardian down as did Arcee, but Bulk insisted until Wheeljack relented. "Fine! You want to live in the past, _Bulkhead_?" Jack quickly pulled Miko away from 'Wheeljack' while he told the story. "The Wreckers were trapped between a Decepticon patrol and the smelting pit. The 'Cons were vicious, bearing down on us with everything they had. Me and Bulkhead engaged the enemy, left 'em for scrap, then I made us a way out by using their backsides as stepping stones across the molten metal. Isn't that how it happened?" he asked smugly.

"Yeah, that's exactly what happened Bulkhead replied, seeming at ease. 'Wheeljack' relaxed at that, until Bulkhead continued. "Except for one little thing: _I wasn't there_." Everyone but Jack looked at Bulk and Wheeljack in shock. "I'd already left the Wreckers to join up with Optimus. But you wouldn't know that if all you did was look up Wheeljack's public service record!" Bulk explained, constantly moving closer to the fake.

"Bulkhead, what does that have to do with-" Miko asked just before Wheeljack tried to grab her. The fake was only frustrated because Jack knocked her out of the way, only to be grabbed himself. Then, taking Jack with him, he ran to the groundbridge controls and threatened "Stay back, or I'll squeeze him into pulp."

Arcee growled at him. "Let him go, Con, or I swear on the Allspark that you will regret it!"

"Like I could possibly scared of what a little femme could do!" 'Wheeljack' said in his natural voice.

"Bad call, but then, so was grabbing me," Jack said, before pulling out his gun and shooting the fake in his knuckles. 'Wheeljack' cried out in pain, while Jack climbed up his arm, pulled out the boom stick and shoved it down behind his back plate before jumping onto the groundbridge controls.

Just as he landed, the console beeped and the fake grinned. "Perfect! Now, let's get this party started!" Then he opened the groundbridge, to only he knew what.

But Makeshift's relief was short-lived, as an identical bot came through the bridge, hitting Makeshift in the back with his peds. The real Wheeljack straightened out before telling Jack "I'd shut that hole before the stink comes through."

Jack grinned, considering the fact that he was already looking to defend the base, this _had_ to be the real thing. Of course, the fact that he also had a spark song from _The Matrix: Revolutions_ certainly helped him decide that. (Wheeljack's was _Neodammerung_ to Bulk's _Navras_.) "Sure thing, Wheeljack, but I'd suggest getting rid of him soon, or we'll have a big mess to clean up, one I'd rather leave to the 'Cons."

"I'll only need two minutes alone with ugly," Wheeljack replied. Immediately, the doubles pulled out their katanas and started circling each other, before they attacked the other in unison. Raf and Miko quickly lost track of who was who, but Jack had no such trouble, due to the fact that his boom stick was still in Makeshift's back. Fortunately the fight didn't last long, as Wheeljack quickly disarmed Makeshift and knocked him on the ground. Then he turned to Jack and insisted "Kid, pull the switch. It's time to take out the trash."

Jack grinned as he followed the order, and within seconds of the bridge being opened, Bulkhead lobbed Makeshift through the bridge. "Perfect, we had about thirty seconds before the bomb blew."

Everyone turned to look at Jack in shock. "What kind of bomb, kid?"

"Oh, I'm not sure, actually. My dad used to bring his work home with him, and I messed with it a little. I'd been hoping for a chance to test it, but I guess the observation of the test will simply have to wait."

"What did your father do?" Arcee asked.

"Oh, he was a weapons designer for Justin Hammer Sr, the former head of Hammer Industries. At least he was, until Hammer Sr died and Jr took over. Justin the Younger brought his own men in, and people like my dad were relegated to desk jobs. That killed him about ten years ago," Jack explained. And all of that was true, except for the fact that Jeff Darby never brought his work home, or at least, not the actual devices. "Oh, and five, four, three, two, one, and your double is no more," Jack finished, having just checked his watch.

_May 26, 2012-Nemesis_

Soundwave had to admit, some of Starscream's plans were inspirational, and this was one of them. Makeshift was one of the rarest kind of Cybertronians, a Shifter, one who could make themselves look like anyone of approximately the same size as him. The only problem with the plan was that which had happened: they chose the wrong 'Bot to replace, and as such, Wheeljack had escaped, but hopefully Makeshift had at least retrieved the requisite information. Fortunately Starscream had the same priority. "Please tell me you at least learned the location of their base!" he demanded.

"Indeed, Lord Starscream, it is in a hidden bunker, just outside of-" but that was as far as he got before . . . _something_ exploded, completely destroying his head and spark chamber before igniting the grenade that hung on Wheeljack's right side. Fortunately for Soundwave, he was far enough away that he managed to escape the blast, as did Starscream. Too bad, Starscream might have won the war right then, before Megatron even woke up, if it weren't for that bomb.

_May 30, 2012-Autobot Outpost Omega One_

Wheeljack decided not to stay, despite Optimus and Bulk trying their best to convince him. But before he left, he said that he counted Jack and Miko as honorary members of the Wreckers, and left Bulkhead under Miko's protection, (once Bulk refused his offer to go with Wheeljack,) something that both Jack and Raf had to hold back their laughter about until they were on their way home.

That was three days ago. Now Agent Fowler had called them for help transporting a new Stark-tech reactor (called a DYNGS, short for Dynamic Nuclear Generating System,) after some 'Cons shot him down. Thinking quickly, Optimus decided that the best way to transport the DYNGS was in his trailer. A few hours into the road trip, Fowler reported that the one responsible for shooting him down was following them, as well as a few ground troops. "What?" Ratchet asked in shock. "I'm not picking up anything. They must be utilizing a cloaking technology."

"Maybe, or maybe it's not the 'Cons," Jack suggested. "We're far from a peaceful race, you know, and all kinds of terrorist and mercenary groups exist out there. One of them even tried taking over the world 70 years ago."

Just then, Optimus reported "Our assailants are not Decepticons, they are human."

Ratchet, Miko and Raf repeated the word in shock while Jack just grinned and said "Told you so."

"No one likes to hear 'I told you so,' Jack," Miko countered. "Besides, humans taking on our 'Bots? They're road kill!" And sure enough, Optimus and Bee each took out one of the enemy vehicles.

Then, over the comm came an unfamiliar voice. " _I hope you take better care of the DYNGS than you do your captives._ "

" _Special Agent Fowler here. Identify yourself!_ "

" _I am Silas. But of greater consequence to you, we are MECH. Fair warning to you, we will be helping ourselves to your device, even if it means inflicting casualties._ "

" _Is that so? Tell me, Si, what's the market price for a DYNGS these days?_ "

" _Please, Agent Fowler, anything Stark makes is valuable. But what makes you think we intend to sell it? There's a war brewing, between the new world order, and the newest. The winner will be the side with the most innovative technology, and that means Stark, even if he doesn't make your traditional weapons anymore._ " Jack and Raf grinned at each other at that. After they had become friends, they discovered that they were both big fans of Iron Man, and were some of the few people who actually supported the billionaire when he decided to stop making weapons after his escape from the Ten Rings.

" _So Si, you think MECH has all the most radical tech?_ " Fowler asked smugly. Not a minute after he asked, Arcee burst out of Optimus' trailer, hitting one of the MECH vehicles, causing it to flip before another vehicle hit it, flipping onto its' roof before the gas tank exploded. _That's my girl,_ Jack thought in pride.

Five minutes later, they started Phase Two, something that Jack thought needed to be updated due to their pursuers. How could Silas not realize that they had moved the DYNGS to the train when his men were following the 'Bots? However, Ratchet overruled his objections and they continued as planned. Then, just as they left the tunnel, Ratchet called out "Optimus, you have company!" With the arrival of the Decepticons, their deception involving the DYNGS quickly fell apart, and they were forced to transform in order to defend themselves and Fowler, leaving MECH free to take the DYNGS.

"We can't let MECH grab the DYNGS," Jack insisted. "We need to think of something quick . . . wait, what if _we_ bridge onto the train? They have to get on the train if they want it, and we just might be able to stop them."

"Absolutely not! That would be suicide, you would be taking on trained mercenaries!" Ratchet insisted.

Miko immediately countered him with "Hello, United States of _Meltdown_? _Lives_ are at stake?"

"Yes, yours! You not only want me to bridge you _into_ a confined space, but one travelling at 90 miles per hour? I can't even count the number of ways that can go wrong. Mass displacement trauma, twisted limbs, metal burn." The trio stared at Ratchet at that last one, even Jack. Yes, he may have metal in his body, but it _was_ inside him, not on the outside. Ratchet realized why they were staring at him and corrected himself. "Well, maybe not the last one. Regardless, it is nearly impossible to fix groundbridge coordinates on something moving at that speed."

"Would it help if we had access to the train's coordinates?" Raf asked, coming to the rescue once again.

"Well-" Ratchet started.

_May 30, 2012-Union Pacific train-Idaho_

Jack decided Ratchet was right to be concerned when he arrived through the bridge with Miko. Even with the coordinates, they still ended up landing on their asses instead of walking out as was usual. As soon as he stood up, he opened his phone and called the base. "Okay, good news is we're in. The bad news is we've got a downed guard, and the DYNGS is making some noise. I think you'll need to come over too, Raf, just in case," he reported.

" _On my way, Jack,_ " Raf answered, and within a minute he was inside the car, while Jack had opened up the box with the DYNGS inside. Raf immediately went to work, until Jack realized that MECH was landing their helicopter on top of the train. He quickly switched to his laptop before announcing "Okay, in about twenty seconds, we're going to hit a switch track. Brace yourselves, it's going to be a hard left at these speeds." Sure enough, it _was_ a hard left, but it had it's consequences, as not long after, Raf's computer got fried, clearly the result of MECH counter-hacking Raf. "Damn those bastards!" Raf yelled. Jack and Miko looked at him in shock. Raf felt their stares and as he turned to go back to work on the DYNGS he replied "What? I may be twelve, but I am also a sophomore in high school, and the rest of the class doesn't watch their language around me."

Then, just as Raf finished fixing the DYNGS, the MECH soldiers finished cutting through the roof, three of them looking down on the trio of kids. Miko immediately went for the axe that was conveniently hanging on one side of the car, while Jack pulled out his Glock and Raf grabbed the fire extinguisher from the same wall the axe had been on. The MECH troops radioed Silas and asked "There are three civilian youths on the train. What do we do with them?" Jack didn't hear the answer, but he didn't need to as the soldier repeated the reply. "You heard him, no witnesses."

Jack widened his eyes in shock at the inhumanity of the order, until the MECH soldiers raised their weapons to shoot. They were to slow however, as Jack quickly got six shots off, instantly killing two of the soldiers, while the third scrambled back, but not before he noticed something glimmer on the mans' uniform. He'd have to study that later, right now, Silas was attempting to escape, and he couldn't let that happen, so he took aim at MECH's chopper and emptied his clip into it, with no visible effect. However, it must have shaken Silas up some, as the MECH chopper simply flew off to the south, leaving the train and the DYNGS in peace. At the next station, Jack and Miko got out and were quickly bridged home, along with the 'Bots.

_May 30, 2012-Darby home, Alamo, NV_

If there was one thing that Jack would _never_ give up about being part Cybertronian, even if he could, it was the computer mind. Thanks to it, he could review any memory as quickly as he could find the file and open it, just as he was doing right now. He was certain he'd seen a symbol on the uniform of that MECH agent that he'd shot, and that symbol might help in some way. He opened the file, and slowly started playing the memory until he spotted it again. Jack quickly zoomed in and cleaned up the image until . . . "No! No, it can't be! They were destroyed almost 70 years ago! It can't be-"

_May 31, 2012-Secret MECH Base, Nevada_

"We failed to acquired the DYNGS, but we did learn several important pieces of information. First, your agents in SWORD were telling the truth, the Transformers are real. We may have a chance to create weapons as powerful as the Tesseract weapons from World War II by studying them. Second, I believe we found a possible recruit," 'Silas' reported.

"Explain," his superior demanded.

One of the MECH soldiers stepped forward with a holographic generator. "When we were ordered to eliminate all witnesses, this young man, no older than 20, shot and killed my partners in cold blood before attempting to shoot down Silas. We know he has connections to Fowler, and thus to SWORD and SHIELD, giving you yet another agent on the inside."

The baron gave a grin. "Very well, but you cannot be the one to turn him, Colonel Bishop, I doubt that he could possibly trust you after today. We will have to look to our other agents to recruit him. Well done, Colonel."

Then, as one, the MECH agents raised their arms in salute and yelled "Hail, Hydra!"

Baron Wolfgang von Strucker grinned and returned the salute. "Hail, Hydra."


	6. Blackout

**More Than Meets the Eye**

**Chapter V: Blackout**

 

_June 5, 2012-Autobot Outpost Omega One_

 

"By the AllSpark, Jack, what are you doing?!"

Jack nearly shot to the roof when Ratchet spoke. "Ratchet, don't do that! I'm in the middle of some very delicate work!"

"Yes, I can see that, but what kind of work could you possibly be doing with Energon? And is that gunpowder you’re working with?”

Jack decided to keep working as he answered the medic. “I’m going to find out the effects of Energon has on gunpowder, if any. Will it give the bullets more range, better piercing power, do more damage, or is it simply too dangerous? If it can do any of those things, then my gun will do even more damage to the Cons on the rare occasion that I see them.” During that time, he had taken the mixture he currently had and refilled one shell with the Energon-enhanced powder and mixed a stronger version. He continued the process, enhancing each shell by one more drop of Energon than the last. Jack hoped to find a way to infuse the bullets with Energon, but he had already learned that Energon tended to be as sensitive as gasoline, if not more so when it came to heat. What he needed was a stabilizing agent, or some kind of container, something that he could place the Energon inside and then place inside the bullet, allowing him to reseal the bullet with the Energon inside. Hmm, that could work . . .

He was just about to try something when Bulkhead showed up saying “Because we want the best for you, and that means making sure you go to school, not jail.”

Oh, there was _no way_ he could let something this good pass! “Uh oh, what’d you do? Is it something serious?” he asked Miko.

Unfortunately they decided to ignore him, and he learned nothing blackmail worthy. He was just about to go back to his work when Ratchet stated “I’m detecting a fresh Energon pulse from the nation called Greece. An ancient land, quite historic I believe.”

“No kidding,” Jack added. “That looks like it’s coming from Delphi, the ancient home of the Oracle, a woman who was believed to be able to tell the future under the direction of Apollo, one of the Olympian gods.” On hearing that, Bulkhead showed his cunning side by inviting Miko, clearly hoping that the ruins of Delphi would inspire her to write her History report.

While they were gone, Jack immediately went back to work. Thanks to his CPU’s internal database, he quickly came up with a substance that would both hold up to the heat of the molten lead yet still allow the Energon to explode on impact. He wouldn’t be able to synthesize it at the base, or at least, not while the Bots were watching anyways. So, he went back to his original task: mixing Energon and gunpowder, until Bulk and Miko returned after a mere fifteen minute absence.

Immediately Miko went into a rant about Bulk and his apparent rivalry with some Con called Breakdown, and how they discovered a fresco that seemed to depict a Cybertronian device. When Ratchet uploaded Miko’s picture of the fresco, Optimus confirmed the original assessment. “It is indeed an Energon Harvester, a powerful tool created by the ancients to remove Energon from any source.”

Jack shuddered at the mention of the device. Sam knew all too well what an Energon Harvester was; it had been because of one of those devices that his Optimus was killed, and he had become an international fugitive. Fortunately this version seemed to be much smaller, which led Jack to a terrifying conclusion. “Optimus, if the Harvester removes Energon from anything, and Energon is your life-blood, then it could be extremely dangerous, couldn’t it?”

“Indeed Jack, in Decepticon hands, the Harvester would be a terrible weapon.” It seemed for a minute that since the image had been destroyed, then the problem was taken care of, until Raf did a search on the internet, and found the Harvester in seconds, inside a museum. If he could do it, then there was no doubt that Soundwave could do the same. Optimus recognized the threat as well and gave one command in response: “Contact Agent Fowler.”

Unfortunately, all they got was his voicemail, causing Ratchet to say the funniest thing ever: "I hate talking to machines." Jack only barely kept himself from laughing at that, wondering what he thought he was doing when he was talking to other Cybertronians.

Optimus had a completely different reaction. “Without Agent Fowler’s direct aid, we will have to confiscate the Harvester on our own.”

Jack couldn’t believe his ears. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. _Confiscate_ the Harvester? Are you crazy?” Raf agreed with Jack, though he was against the illegal part of it.

“I do not wish to break Human law, but once the Decepticons learn of the Harvester’s location, they will not hesitate to obtain it by any means necessary. We must act covertly.”

“So you’re just going to go to the museum, ignore the security, and remove the Harvester? How is this a plan?” Jack demanded.

“No problem,” Miko answered. “We’re small enough to sneak in, and we’re not a government secret! Besides, they’ll probably figure that a mutie did it.”

“So you’d be willing for a mutant to pay for our crime, when it’s possible to make it look like no crime was committed?” Jack demanded. Turning to Optimus he stated “We can simply make a replica of the Harvester, take it with us, and switch our copy for the real thing, and no one would know the difference.”

 _“Sounds easy enough, let’s do it,”_ Bumblebee agreed, with the others turning to Ratchet. When Optimus turned to Ratchet, he answered “I suppose I could create a believable replica before the museum closes.”

As Ratchet made his forgery and Miko was forced to work on her history report, Arcee decided to ask a question. “Jack, what are ‘muties’? I’ve never heard the term before.”

Jack bit back a growl before answering. “That is a pejorative term for a new species that is appearing on Earth. The proper term is mutants, a race of humanity that has abilities beyond that of average humans, some of them can be quite dangerous, if they wish to be. There have been rumours of them for hundreds of years, but they didn’t come into the public eye until about forty years ago. Ever since, there has been a _lot_ of debate about them, and even a proposed Mutant Registration Act, which would force mutants to reveal themselves, and what their so-called ‘power’ is. It’s pure discrimination the likes that our country hasn’t seen in more than fifty years.” Jack’s support for mutants was one of the few things he knew was purely him, with no input from Sam, as his world didn’t have mutants, and Jack had been a supporter since before his dad died.

“Jack is _the_ supporter of mutant rights at school,” Raf said, explaining Jack’s passion for the subject. “Some of the kids actually wonder if he is a mutant because of how strongly he supports them.” Jack nearly growled again at the suggestion. Why would he need to be a mutant to support them? Honestly, he wondered _why_ so many people were against mutants, nearly everyone dreamed of having a special gift when they were kids, something that would make them super, mutants were just the lucky few who _did_. But then again, he somewhat suspected that some of the anti-mutant protesters were simply jealous.

 

_June 5, 2012-British Museum, London, England_

 

A few hours later, the trio and the forgery were ready, and as soon as the team was in place, they bridged in. Optimus gave them the ‘all clear’ signal, and they moved in, allowing Miko to take a picture of what the camera should see and placing it in front of the camera. (Why they didn’t just have Raf hack the cameras, Jack would never understand.) They had just switched the forgery for the real thing when . . . a _missile_ hit the glass?! Where had _that_ come from? It was only then that Jack realized he had _missed_ the spark songs of . . . was that _two_ Decepticons? Scrap, not good! “We gotta go, now!” Jack insisted. They delayed just long enough to grab Miko’s phone, but that was long enough for Bulkhead to get thrown into the red ‘Con and for the two of them to hit a pillar, setting off the alarm.

Jack and Raf continued to ride in the lift, while Miko ran ahead to watch for more ‘Cons or security, and just as they were about to make good their escape, Miko was grabbed. Jack and Raf attempted their escape, thinking that Arcee was waiting for them, but instead it was Soundwave, who instantly took the Harvester. When they retreated to base, Jack vowed to _never_ leave his gun behind again, he got into too much trouble with the Bots without it.

 

_June 9, 2012-Worthington Peak, Nevada_

 

Fortunately for all, the Harvester incident ended easily enough for all involved. Miko was let go the next morning with a warning to watch the time and the Harvester was destroyed, and the only damage done was a severe drainage of Bulkhead’s Energon, which was replaced easily enough due to the Energon found at Delphi, which was quickly mined by the Autobots. At the start of summer vacation (Jack’s last at Alamo High,) a few days after the Harvester incident, Vince learned why you _never_ insult a femme’s looks as Arcee smoked him in an impromptu street race. That one race was the beginning and end of Jack’s racing career-he had enough memories of street races that turned deadly thanks to Sam, and Vince learned the hard way how dangerous they were, as he ended up in the hospital the day after his race against Jack with a pair of broken legs, bruised ribs and a concussion due to another race.

Now though, Jack was relaxing on Worthington Peak, hoping for a peaceful day with no Cons or missions. Him and Arcee had been planning on a relaxing drive until Ratchet called in with a mission, leaving Jack on the mountain. He didn’t mind, as it would allow him not only to relax for the first time in months, but also because he was going to do some self-study. Sam had explored just how much of him was Cybertronian, and if he could transform as soon as he realized he had changed; Jack had not. Now though, since he had now spent several months with the Autobots, he knew he needed to know the full extent of his abilities as a Transformer.

“Okay, let’s start this easy,” Jack told himself, focusing on changing his legs into their robotic form. The change came as easily as breathing, and he was shocked at the change: he now stood about ten feet tall, most of that in his legs, which were now _huge_ , and armoured. If the rest of him was armoured like his legs, Jack could only imagine what his vehicle mode would look like, presuming he had one. (Based on the small wheels in his ankles, he took it to be a good assumption.) Taking the change nice and slow, he changed his arms next, and was shocked at how bulky his shoulders became! Turning his head to examine his arms, he was shocked to find two more _enormous_ wheels, and the armour was much like the amour on his legs.

Well, now he _had_ to see what he looked like, and finished the change. When it was complete, he was probably within a few feet of Bulkhead’s height, and obviously built just as large as him, and he had an extra two wheels in his side. “So this is how they see the world. This is _amazing_!” Jack stated in awe. His optics could see so much better than his human eyes ever could. He fell in love with his Bot mode then and there. Curiosity now burned within him, and he decided to examine his vehicle mode. But he had yet another shock as his mind asked _Tumbler or cycle?_ Curious, he chose the cycle, wondering how his would differ from Arcee, which he now held as the most perfect motorcycle on Earth. When that change was done, he instantly knew he was smaller, probably no taller than three feet, but probably a good nine feet in length, and publicly armed. Curious.

He quickly switched to the ‘tumbler,’ and quickly examined himself. “Now this is the embodiment of _cool_ ,” Jack said with pleasure. The tumbler resembled nothing so much as Megatron’s tank mode from Sam’s memories, but this was radically different, designed much like the F-117 Nighthawk fighter, all black and angled, not one rounded edge on the entire vehicle outside of the wheels. _This_ thing was power and cool given form, and he _loved_ it. 

* * *

 

Blackout had not had much to do since his reawakening by Starscream, and mostly stuck to scouting for Energon, and keeping an eye out for other Cybertronians. Standing orders: either recruit them to the Decepticons, or kill them. He preferred it when they tried to fight. Unlike so many others, he _enjoyed_ fighting, he _liked_ the war, and he would do anything it took to prolong it. As he patrolled the desolate region called the American Southwest, he spotted the first thing that gave him hope that this place wouldn’t be as boring as he feared: another Cybertronian, who _wasn’t_ a Decepticon. And even more interesting, he was of the _military_ caste. _This_ was going to be _fun!_

“Blackout to Commander Starscream, I have found a Cybertronian. Moving in to engage,” he messaged, just as he dove towards the mech. But before he could even get low enough to transform, the mech changed and _shot_ at him! He only barely managed to dodge the bolt of green plasma, after which he quickly changed and raised his arms. “Peace brother, I only wish to talk. My name is Blackout, and I come with an offer from Lord Megatron.”

“Yeah, you say ‘peace,’ I kind of think you mean the other thing, _Decepticon_ ,” he spat out. “I’m not interested in hearing your recruitment speech, my sympathies lie with the Autobots, especially after what Megatron just pulled a few months ago.” Blackout blinked at that statement; what did he mean? “What, didn’t you hear? Megatron _poisoned_ Cybertron with _Dark_ Energon in order to raise an army of . . . I believe the popular term is zombiecons, and all for the sole purpose of conquering Earth.”

“Earth is a storehouse of Energon deposits. I’m sure Megatron-” But the mech wasn’t having any of it, as he threw a punch at Blackout before he had even stopped speaking, hitting him square on the jaw. “Okay, if that’s the way you want to do things, then so be it!” Blackout yelled before activating his blades. But the soldier only activated his own blade, one that glowed with Energon. The two duelled with the blades, neither gaining a clear advantage until the neutral activated the strangest weapon Blackout had ever seen . . . and shot him! “Right, that’s it. No more kid gloves,” Blackout growled, and he started shooting himself, giving him the opening he needed to release his pet.

“Not bad, Con, but you lose,” the neutral stated. Blackout cocked his head in confusion, and the mech nodded behind him. Cautiously, he turned and was shocked to find Arcee only a few hundred feet away. Snarling, he changed and flew off, while signalling Scorponok to keep an optic on the mech or try to find the Autobot base, but to be careful. Blackout and Scorponok were both deadly, but neither cared to go up against the vicious femme ninja. 

* * *

 

_Scorponok followed his orders, but by the time he surfaced, the mech was gone, and only a human mechling remained. He conversed briefly with the femme, before they groundbridged out. With both his mission objectives failed, he signaled Blackout for his own bridge, and returned to his master._

 

_June 9, 2012-Autobot Outpost Omega One_

 

“-He was good, Optimus, very good. If I hadn’t noticed the fact that he wore no insignia, I’d have guessed him one of our best. As it is, he must have been part of the military caste. And he was fast, like greased lightning fast. By the time I got there, he was gone, and there was no trace of him. Anything else, you’ll have to get from Jack,” Arcee said, finishing her report to Optimus.

“And what do you have to say about him, Jack?” Optimus asked.

“Blitz, his name is Blitz,” Jack started. He hadn’t had so much as a single idea for his Autobot name until Arcee mentioned how fast he was. Greased lightning? Really, Arcee? “He seems to be on our side, I think he’s just waiting to figure out the situation here before committing. Also, he’s not afraid to fight dirty in order to win, he shot at the PaveLow Con before he could even land.”

“PaveLow?” Optimus asked.

“A Hammer PaveLow MH-53J helicopter, one of the largest and potentially dangerous the US has ever made. I know, my dad helped design it,” Jack answered.

Optimus and Arcee blanched at that, or at least, as much as a Cybertronian could. “Blackout,” Optimus stated.

Jack asked who he was, and Arcee stated “He’s one of the worst monsters to come out of the war, and one Megatron’s most loyal and dangerous soldiers. He’s even more dangerous than Skyquake, mostly because of his partner or pet, Scorponok. He once fought Optimus, and nearly won. If Blackout really is here, we will have to be even more careful than ever before.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The mutant issue will be showing up again, though how often will be up to you. I currently have only one encounter planned though, so if you want more, let me know what you want. If you wish to know what Blitz looks like, look on Google Images for Tumbler Transformer, and you’ll find it, I can guarantee it. (Just ignore the bat symbols, as he doesn’t have those.) His vehicle modes are based off the Dark Knight vehicles, naturally, and he has two arm weapons: one shoots a plasma shell similar to the plasma torpedoes from Star Trek Online, while his other is a rail gun, the same weapon that takes out Devastator in Dark of the Moon. I know that the PaveLow is a Sikorsky in the real world, but in this, Hammer made it, and added a few more weapon systems to it. Now, I have a question for you: in my take, Tunnel Vision will be ending minutes before the Battle of New York begins. Do you want the team get involved in the battle, or no? I plan for them to join in, but I listen to my reviewers. Also, how would you like for Thor to land in Jasper instead of Puerte Antigua in the next chapter?


	7. Partners

_July 16, 2012-Olympic National Forest, Washington_

 

A few weeks after Blackout had shown up, and there had been absolutely no enemy contact, meaning that the kids were now allowed to go back out with their guardians on missions that were labeled low risk, such as the one that Jack was on now. Ratchet had picked up an Energon signature in north-western Washington, and Arcee and Jack were the ones that were sent to check it out. As they neared the location, Arcee's scanner started going off. "That's odd," she stated. "Ratchet's satellite scans were accurate, but subterranean Energon deposits don't cause this kind of surge."

Jack on the other hand had gone ahead and found why the surge had happened. "Arcee, come take a look at this," he said, pointing at an enormous gouge in the landscape. "What happened here?"

"Crash landing," she explained. "Stay behind me, low and close." Jack had no problem following that order, he was always a tad too cautious when it came to these missions.

They soon found the ship, and it looked nothing like the _Nemesis_ , so Jack asked "Bot, Con or Neutral?"

"Can't tell. Wait here, I'm going in for a closer look."

Again, Jack did as she asked, though he was extremely worried for his guardian. The ship was clearly large enough for several Cybertronians, so she could be walking into an ambush. Jack waited for several tense minutes as his friend and partner scouted the ship, making certain to pay attention to their spark bond in case she needed help. Then he finally spotted her . . . _stumbling_ out of the ship? He quickly studied their bond, making certain he didn't accidentally miss something, and sensing no wounds, ran to her. "Arcee! Are you alright? What's wrong?"

"I know who this ship belongs too." Jack almost fell to his knees when he saw the pain and rage in her optics. "Arcee to base, Ratchet, I need a bridge for Jack, _now_." Jack's eyes widened. A bridge just for him? Whoever this was, it _scared_ Arcee, and enough that she would send him away. But who could scare her that bad? She hadn't even hesitated to go to the _Nemesis_ to rescue him and Miko, or to stop Megatron from raising the army of zombiecons! "Base, do you read? Scrap, comm's dead! The ship must be transmitting a high frequency scrambler pulse."

"Arcee, you're starting to scare _me_ , what's going on?" Jack demanded. This was _not_ the cool, collected femme he had gotten to know over the previous three months.

"Wait here," she ordered, before moving on to scout ahead. Worried, Jack pulled out his Glock and moved into a defensive position. Primus, but he wished he had tested the ammo before now! Well, he wouldn't delay again. He would test it tomorrow, assuming he survived the night.

Jack waited for a couple minutes, with nothing happening outside of the visit of a chipmunk, until a burst of emotional pain came from the bond. He quickly ran to his partner, worried about her. Yet when he found her, she was just kneeling on the ground, completely fine, physically at least. "Arcee?"

"Climb on," she demanded after transforming to her motorcycle form. Worried, Jack followed her orders, only for her to drive like a mad woman to the point of jumping over a small ravine. "Arcee to base, _please_ come in Ratchet."

"Okay, Arcee. Is this really necessary? I _have_ seen danger before, remember? Starscream, Soundwave, MECH. How bad can-"

" _Wait here_ , I mean it this time."

"Okay, first you shut me out, now you're ditching me? I thought we were partners, Arcee." Jack couldn't remember a time he'd been more hurt, even counting the time his mom had taken him and left New York, forcing him to leave all his friends behind him.

"No, Jack, you're a _kid_. You're only here because it was supposed to be no-risk. Got it?" And then she just drove off.

Jack was absolutely furious! "Just a kid? I'll show her," he decided. He quickly transformed his legs and started following Arcee.

The sun was starting to set, but Jack knew he was finally closing in on Arcee and whatever Con she was going after, so he immediately changed back to his human legs before moving in closer. Then he picked up the Con's spark song, and nearly froze in shock. He _knew_ that song, and worse, he knew that it meant Arcee was facing a true _monster_. He could easily place the lyrics with the music of the spark pulses, and he knew that after tonight, he could _never_ listen to the song without thinking of tonight ever again.

_I was born of a womb of a poisonous man_

_Beaten and broken and chased from the land_

_But I rise up above it, high up above it to see_

_I was hung from a tree made of tongues of the weak_

_The branches the bones of the liars and thieves_

_Rise up above it, high up above it to see_

Primus, what kind of monster would have _Night of the Hunter_ for a spark song? Then he came upon her. "Oh, a femme black widow. That makes sense," Jack said when he lay eyes upon her. It looked like Arcee had her, but the Con took advantage of Arcee's shock and . . . _webbed_ her to a rock (what was that about?) before turning towards him.

Fortunately, Arcee was able to cut her arm free and shot her before the femme could take a step. "I told you to wait for me!" Arcee scolded.

"Well, you may not think of me as a partner, but I do, Arcee. And I don't ditch my partners," Jack countered as he opened his Swiss Army knife and started cutting her loose.

"Get this through your head, Jack: you're not my partner, you're a liability," Arcee insisted.

"Now why don't I believe that? I know you too well, Arcee, you're scared. And I have never seen you scared before."

_Pray to your God, open your heart_

_Whatever you do, don't be afraid of the dark_

_Cover your eyes, the devil's inside_

_One Night of the Hunter,_

_One day I will get revenge_

_One night to remember_

_One day it'll all just end_

Arcee had yet another flashback, just as Jack realized that the spider-bot was still functioning. He started cutting even faster, until something Arcee said shocked him. "You're right, Jack, I am afraid. Of losing you!"

Then, as if just to ruin their moment, the spider woke up and started talking. "You sure have trouble hanging onto your partners, don't you? We both know what happened to Tailgate, but I've recently picked up some Decepticon radio chatter regarding the recent passing of _Cliffjumper_." Jack turned to glare at the femme. Everyone at Omega One knew better than to mention the late Bot, or the circumstances of his death. She was going to _pay_ for that later. "At some point, you have to ask yourself: 'is it them, or is it me?'"

"Do you get it now, Jack?" Oh yeah, he got it alright. She was one sadistic bitch. "Airachnid's not interested in me, she hunts indigenous species, and she's on _Earth_." _That_ got his attention. But then that would mean . . . "That means humans. YOU! **RUN**!"

Jack took her advice and started running. "Primus, one Night of the Hunter indeed," he stated, noting that night actually had fallen. How ironic.

_Blessed by a bitch from a bastard seed_

_Pleasure to meet you but better to bleed_

_Rise, I will rise, I will rise_

_Skinned her alive, ripped her apart_

_Scattered her ashes, buried her heart,_

_Rise up above it, high up above it to see_

Jack ran alright, he ran as fast as he could, but only so he could prepare for the inevitable fight. But first, he needed to stop and think, so when he came across a fallen tree, he jumped onto the other side and sat down. What would be the best place for him to fight Airachnid, and have a good chance of stopping her? He was still thinking when Airachnid showed up right behind him. As she got closer, he slowly slid his pistol out, but she seemed not to notice him. Until she looked down at him. "Hello, Jack."

He pulled back in shock before putting five bullets in her, but they didn't do as much damage as he had hoped they would. Instead, they just made her mad. "So, my prey has some sting to it? Interesting."

"You're going to hate me by the time we're done, bitch," Jack answered. Then he started running again, finally ready to kill the spider. He had a plan. How he didn't think of it before, he could only guess. Probably because of the stress that Airachnid had caused.

_Pray to your God, open your heart_

_Whatever you do, don't be afraid of the dark_

_Cover your eyes, the devil's inside_

_One Night of the Hunter,_

_One day I will get revenge_

_One night to remember_

_One day it'll all just end_

"You're making this too easy Jack. And I do not enjoy being bored!" Airachnid called out as they neared her ship.

Jack simply ignored her as he hid near her ship. It was _supposed_ to be easy to follow him. How else could he make certain that she'd go where he wanted her to go? Luckily, she followed the plan and assumed that he had gone in, so while she taunted him, he made his preparations. All he needed to do was find the spilled Energon, which he did by accidentally stepping in it. "Perfect," he said with a grin. He easily tracked it to it's source, and confirmed that it was still leaking from the ship. Jack then found a nice, dry piece of wood and started shaving off splinters of magnesium onto the branch. When that was done, he turned the bar around and started striking the iron insert, quickly igniting the magnesium, and the wood. With that done, he tossed the branch into the leaking engine and ran.

"JACK!" Airachnid called out in fear, just before the engine exploded beneath her.

_Honest to God, I will break your heart_

_Tear you to pieces and rip you apart_

_Honest to God, I will break your heart_

_Tear you to pieces and rip you apart_

_Honest to God, I will break your heart_

_Tear you to pieces and rip you apart_

_Honest to God, I will break your heart_

_Tear you to pieces and rip you apart_

"Good riddance to bad rubbish," Jack said with a grin after he recovered from the blast. Jack turned and started going back to find Arcee, only for his foot to be hit by a blast of webbing. "Ah, come _on_! What do I need to do to stop you?" Jack grumbled. How did she survive that explosion?

"Nothing you can do will stop me," Airachnid growled from above him, still burning from the explosion. She shot him with the webbing again, this time binding his entire torso to a nearby tree, before raising one of her spider legs to slit his throat.

But before she could, two things happened. First, Jack shot her in the joints of the leg threatening his neck, and second, Arcee came charging in, hitting her on her jaw and knocking the spider-bot away. What followed was a fight the likes of which was the kind that Jack had come to expect from his partner: a dance with death that was more like artwork than a fight. It finally ended by Arcee giving the spider a good, hard kick to the chest that sent the other femme flying through the trees. "Jack, are you okay?" Arcee asked as she freed him from the webs.

"Just fine, Arcee. Things didn't go exactly to plan, but hey, it still worked," Jack said with a grin.

_One Night of the Hunter,_

_One day I will get revenge_

_One night to remember_

_One day it'll all just end_

Unfortunately, Airachnid took advantage of their reunion by escaping into the earth. Arcee screamed out, only for the other femme to disappear completely. "So much for closure," she grumbled.

"And now she's trapped here on Earth. I'm not sure how wise that was," Jack admitted.

"I'm sorry you had to face my demons tonight, Jack. But you were pretty fearless back there."

"Oh, I was plenty terrified, but mostly for you," Jack answered with a smile.

Arcee smiled back before making a call. "Arcee to Ratchet, requesting a ground bridge. I need to get my partner away from any overgrown insects."

Jack turned to her and grinned. "Partner, huh? I thought I was a kid, a liability?"

Arcee smiled back at him. "So, I was wrong. In any case, you're still my _junior_ partner, just in case I need to pull rank." The bridge activated just as the clock struck midnight, and during the drive to the Darby home, Arcee finally opened up to Jack, filling him in on her time with both Tailgate and Cliffjumper, strengthening the already strong bond between them. Later that night, though neither of them would know it, two items would land near Alamo that would help shape Jack's destiny.

 

_July 17, 2012-Alamo, NV_

 

The next morning, Jack and Arcee drove out of the city in order to _finally_ do the tests that Jack had been wanting to do for nearly two weeks. As they drove down Box Canyon Road though, they passed by an enormous crater, one that had to be a good forty feet wide, yet only nine or ten feet deep, with something in the middle. "Arcee, stop for a minute, I want to take a look at that." Curious, Jack walked over to the crater, and was shocked to find a good sized lump hammer, one that positively radiated unearthly power. There were only two other things that Jack knew of that radiated that kind of power: the All Spark, and the Matrix of Leadership, so what was this thing?

"Jack, I don't think you should be messing with that," Arcee stated.

"Arcee, it's just a hammer. What's the worse that can happen?" Jack countered. Jack then walked into the crater, reached for the hammer and picked it up. "This has some serious weight to it," Jack commented as he messed with it. "Not exactly my style though," he stated as he put it back where he found it.

"Why did you put it back?" Arcee asked after they'd been driving fifteen minutes.

"Because I'm betting that it's owner will want it back, and what better place for him to find it than where it landed? Ah, that will do," Jack stated, pointing out a hillside on their left. Once Arcee stopped, he quickly set up two small tables, his Glock and the ammunition. Jack then pulled out a tape recorder and, setting it to record, he started "This is Jack Darby along with my trusted assistant, Sadie. We are about three miles west of Alamo, and six miles south of Box Canyon Road on Pahranagat Road and it is the seventeenth of July, 2012. This is the first round of the Energon tests on gunpowder." Jack then turned off the recorder and turned to his guardian. "Arcee, I'm really glad that you trusted me enough to tell me about your other partners. I think it's time that I repaid that trust."

"Jack, you don't need to do that," Arcee countered.

"Yeah, I do," Jack disagreed. "I've been keeping a secret from you guys since the day we met," he explained as he loaded the pistol with the first bullets. "Starting control test, three unaltered bullets fired into the nearby hill. Firing in three, two, one," Jack stated into the recorder before firing the three shots. He then took measurements, documenting everything he could.

"What's with the recording and precise data?" Arcee asked.

"It's something every scientist does when doing experiments like this," Jack explained. "I'm certain that even Tony Stark did recordings like these when he was developing the Iron Man armor."

"Not sure how much you should look up to him after the other night," she stated in derision.

Jack almost winced at that. The morning before their encounter with Airachnid, the news had reported that Stark had thrown a wild birthday bash that ended in a drunken fight with his friend Lt Col James Rhodes, and Rhodes taking the Mark II suit. "Well, some people like to throw parties like that when they realize that they're dying," Jack explained.

"Wait, what? What do you mean, dying?" Arcee demanded.

"The Iron Man suit is run on a miniature Arc reactor, as is the magnet in his chest. Arc reactors run on palladium, and when palladium is used in nuclear reactors, it gives off two 'waste' products: silver and rhodium. Rhodium is highly toxic to the human body, but since we have so few uses, no one really knows how to treat it. So yeah, Tony Stark is dying. In fact, I bet that either he will find a replacement for the palladium, or we will hear of his death, and soon."

"How do you know all this?"

"Before last year, I wouldn't have. But fate intervened, and things changed," Jack explained. Throughout his explanations he had continued his experiments, starting off with one drop of Energon in the powder, and slowly increasing the dosage to the point where he was testing 10 drops of Energon. Then he made one mistake. "Last year, something happened that scared me to death, but now, I can't imagine life any other way. I gained the memories and mind of someone else, someone who knew about the Autobots, Decepticons and the war. Testing Energon infusion strength of 15 drops in three, two, one." This time, when Jack pulled the trigger, the gun exploded, destroying Jack's table/firing range and creating quite the dust cloud as a result.

"Jack!" Arcee cried out in fear. Not again, this could not be happening again! Was Airachnid right after all? Was she cursed to be able to do nothing while her partners died?

Then she heard something that both confused her and made her spark jump for joy. "Scrap! What in the pits happened?! There is _no way_ that should have happened so soon!"

It couldn't be! Jack had been at the very epicenter of the explosion! Yet as the smoke cleared, she could clearly see him, perfectly fine . . . or was he? The more the smoke cleared, the clearer the image became, and Arcee saw . . . a metal, armored arm. She instantly knew what it meant. "What have you done with Jack, _pretender_?" she demanded, her blasters aimed at the being she had believed to be her partner.

"Pretender? What are you talking about, Arcee?" Jack asked. For the first time ever, he was scared of his guardian. And why was she calling him a pretender? That was the term that Bee had used to describe Alice, wasn't it? And she had been a Con . . . disguised as a human. _Oh_ , that's it, isn't it? For the first time since the explosion, Jack looked at himself. "Scrap," he whispered. While it wasn't as bad as it could be, it was quite obvious that if he were human, he'd be dead. The flesh on both his arms had been burned off up to the elbows, and there were pieces of metal sticking out of his chest. Then he remembered that his partner was still pointing her blasters at him and decided he had better calm her down, and quick. "Arcee, it's still me. I'm still Jack, and I can explain if you'll just give me a few minutes."

"How long has it been since you replaced Jack?" Arcee demanded.

"Arcee, it's me! Listen, this is what I was trying to tell you! There is no Pretender here, it's just you and me. How can I prove that it's really me?" Then he figured it out. "Arcee, haven't you noticed anything odd about me, like say, a difference in weight when compared to the others?"

"How did you know that?" Arcee demanded.

"Because the change in my weight happened a year ago. Until then I was your average human. One night I went to sleep human, the next morning, I had the memories of someone from another universe, and under my skin, the body of an Autobot."

"And how do I know you're not just a Pretender using that story as an excuse?" Arcee asked, in a _slightly_ more friendly tone.

"Because we have a spark bond, Arcee, or have you not noticed it?" Jack explained. "If you pay attention to it, you can tell when I'm lying. How do you think I knew it was you that had been hurt during the spacebridge battle, or knew where to find you last night?"

Arcee had to give him that, and decided to see if he was telling the truth about the bond. Sure enough, there was a guardian/partner bond between them, even if it was slightly strained at the moment. "Alright, start talking," Arcee stated while lowering her blasters, though not disabling them.

"Okay then, have you ever heard of the multiverse theory?"

Arcee nodded. "Of course. It's the theory that says that there are an infinite number of universes and that we live in one, while in another universe we could have lived very different lives. For example, a universe where we won the war back on Cybertron, or Megatron decided not to fight Optimus. I also know Vector Prime went to a pocket dimension after he discovered Liege Maximo plotting against the other Primes."

"Well, I'm living proof of the theory," Jack stated. And with that, he set off on a basic explanation of Sam's history, his interaction with the Autobots and NEST, eventually becoming part Autobot himself, and the end of Earth. Arcee paled as the story continued into the resistance and the rebuilding of Cybertron, and finally Sam's death. "Well, the next thing he knew, he was waking up in my mind, and I was absolutely panicking. Who wouldn't in my position? I go to sleep an average teen, and I wake up with someone else's voice in my head and, well, these," Jack finished, gesturing at his arms.

"Is that everything?" Arcee asked, worried about her partner. It was clear that Sam had gone through hell several times, and who knew what effects having those memories had on Jack.

"No, just the bare bones. But I'm not telling you the whole story simply because I don't want you to be bored when I tell the others," Jack replied. "I'm fine though, Arcee, it's Sam that isn't."

"If you're certain, Jack," Arcee said, the worry clear in her voice.

"I am," Jack replied, going over to gather the ammunition. "By the pit, no wonder the ammo exploded!" he exclaimed. "I wasn't paying attention to where I got the ammo from! That was the 50 drop strength, not the 15 drops. Come on, Arcee, I need to get back. There's no way I can't continue the tests now, especially considering the results of the first tests."

"What were the results?" Arcee asked. Who knew what kind of side-effects adding the Energon could have?

"With each drop of Energon, there was a decrease in the amount of smoke and sound, while there was a comparable _increase_ in the accuracy, and possibly the range as well. This could definitely help me fight the Cons, when I'm human at least."

"Speaking of which, how are you going to hide your arms?" Arcee asked.

Jack just grinned at her. "The same way you hide the fact that you're driving yourself when I'm not around, _Sadie_." With that, he activated his own holographic emitters, which completely hid his non-human parts.

"Not bad, I can't tell a difference," Arcee complimented. When he climbed on her, Arcee got another shock. "Hard-light emitters? How did you get those?"

"You mean you don't have them?" Jack asked in shock.

"No, we never really needed holograms, so they're your average hologram, what humans currently have."

Jack shrugged at that. "Must be because Sam's Autobots spent so much more time on Earth amidst humans. They needed to blend in more, so they upgraded their holograms." Arcee couldn't argue with that, and took off for Alamo. On their way back, they discovered that an enormous tailgate party was taking place around the hammer's crash site, and on the side of the road, there was a black van with a guy in a nice suit by the van. He quickly picked up his phone and saying "Sir, we found it." Jack just shrugged his shoulders and allowed Arcee to speed off, figuring that the G-man wouldn't be here long, and that whatever brought him to Alamo couldn't be that important.

 

_July 17, 2012-Alamo, NV_

 

Special Agent William Fowler was mad. No, he was beyond mad. Mad is what he got when Prime couldn't keep things on the down-low, mad is what he had been when he first got this particular assignment. But no, he wasn't mad about SHIELD poaching his territory, he was _pissed_. And Fury was going to find out, just as soon as Fowler got through with Fury's favorite agent/stool pigeon.

Luckily enough, said pigeon had spotted him. "Agent Fowler, this is a surprise. I didn't realize SWORD had any interests in the region."

"Come off it, Coulson, you knew SWORD would be interested in the 084 as soon as you heard about it," Fowler countered. "Look, cards on the table, we both know about Foster's theory, and that this thing could be connected to it. That makes this a SWORD matter," Fowler finished.

"And as you said, it _is_ a 084, meaning it could be from right here on Earth, making it a SHIELD matter," countered Coulson.

"You're not going to bend on this, are you, Coulson?" The other agent shook his head. "Fine, how about this, we share the 084. You provide the security, I supply the scientists, and we both take the data back. Is that good enough?"

"We have a deal, Fowler," Coulson agreed, shaking the other agent's hand.

 

_Asgard_

 

On Asgard, five people were discussing the events that led to the hammer landing on Earth. "We should have never let him go," Volstagg the Voluminous stated. He was a very large man with thick red hair and a long beard, and one of the famous Warriors Three, the greatest group of warriors in the Nine Realms. Volstagg was speaking of their prince, Thor Odinson, who had left Asgard with the five people in the room on a trip to Jotunheim, realm of the Frost Giants to discover how several Frost Giants had infiltrated Asgard. The visit had not ended well.

"There was no stopping him," Sif responded. She was the only woman in the group, and the dark-haired beauty was as highly regarded as a warrior as the Warriors Three, despite how few women warriors Asgard had.

"At least he's only banished and not dead," Fandral the Dashing stated. He was another of the Warriors Three, and as his name suggested, the most handsome. "Which is what we'd all be if that guard hadn't told Odin where we'd gone.

"How did the guard even know?" Volstagg asked as Hogun the Grim rubbed some medicine onto his frost burned arm.

"I told him," answered Loki, the current crown prince of Asgard. But despite the title, Loki was as shaken by the visit to Jotunheim as the others, for a more personal reason. Though Thor was considered his brother by all, Loki had learned a potentially disturbing truth. Volstagg's frost burn had happened because a Jotun had simply touched him, yet when the same thing happened to him, Loki's arm had turned the same shade of blue as the Jotun. Loki thought he knew why, and the answer terrified him.

"What?" Fandral asked in shock.

"I told the guard to go to Odin after we'd left. I'm just surprised it took him so long. We should have never reached Jotunheim."

"YOU told the guard?!" Volstagg cried out in shock and anger.

"I saved our lives. And Thor's," Loki pointed out. And indeed, if it wasn't for Loki's actions, they all knew that they would have never left Jotunheim. "I had no idea that Father would banish him for what he did, but I can't say I'm surprised."

"Loki. You must go to the Allfather and convince him to change his mind," Sif insisted.

"No," Loki stated.

"NO?!" the other four asked in shock.

"No, I won't. Father was right to banish Thor after what he did. He's not ready to be king yet. Look at what he did on Jotunheim! Laufey insulted him once, using something all of us have used at one point or another, and Thor attacked them! In any case, Father made plans for Thor's return," Loki stated.

"What plans?" Hogun asked.

"After sending Thor to Midgard, Father enchanted Mjolnir so that whoever is worthy can pick it up and wield Thor's power. Once Thor is worthy to return, he will do so," Loki explained before leaving. He immediately left for the weapons vault and picked up the Casket of Ancient Winters, a prize Odin had taken from Jotunheim after his last war with them.

"Stop!" Odin called out from behind him.

"Am I cursed?" Loki asked.

"No," Odin answered simply.

"What am I?"

"You're my son."

Loki turned around, revealing that he now had the blue skin, red eyes and tattoos of a Jotun. "What more than that?" he demanded as his skin returned to it's usual appearance. "The Casket wasn't the only thing you took from Jotunheim that day, was it?"

"No," Odin answered. "In the aftermath of the battle, I went into the temple and I found a baby. Small, for a giant's offspring. Abandoned, suffering, left to die. I eventually discovered that the babe was Laufey's bastard son, born to an Asgardian woman whom he captured early in the war."

"Laufey's son?" Loki asked, latching on to that one detail.

"Yes."

"Why?" Loki asked in confusion. "You were knee-deep in Jotun blood, why would you take me?"

"You were an innocent child," Odin answered.

But Loki knew there was more to it than that. "No. You took me for a purpose. What was it?" When Odin remained silent, Loki yelled out "TELL ME!"

"I thought we could unite our kingdoms one day; bring about an alliance, a permanent peace. Through you. But those plans no longer matter," Odin answered.

Loki was understandably upset at that, and unleashed his anger on his adoptive father. "So I am no more than another stolen relic, locked up here until you might have use of me."

"Why do you twist my words?" Odin asked, assuming that his meaning had been clear.

But Loki was too lost in his emotions and the shocking revelation to even think about deeper meanings. "You could have told me what I was from the beginning, why didn't you?"

"You're my son, I wanted only to protect you from the truth."

"Why? Because I'm the monster parents tell their children about at night?" Loki stuttered out. Odin tried to disagree, but started falling to the floor. "You know, it all makes sense now, why you favored Thor all these years! Because no matter how much you claim to love me, you could never have a Frost Giant sitting on the throne of Asgard!" Loki lashed out. By the time he was finished ranting, Odin was lying on the ground, asleep. Loki, as angry as he was, worried about his adopted father, recognizing the signs instantly and called for the guards. Odin slept for days, sometimes weeks at a time in order to replenish his strength, but he had been putting it off for a long time, longer than Loki could remember, and now he worried that the only father he had ever known might never wake.

 

_July 17, 2012-Alamo, NV_

 

Jack and Arcee were having a nice, simple drive when they had to stop because a large blond man was walking down the middle of the street, with the visiting scientist, Dr Jane Foster following him. (Dr Foster had arrived a few days earlier with another scientist and a college student. She believed that certain atmospheric phenomena that had been occurring over the previous two months were connected to her cosmology research. Personally, Jack doubted it.) What made things even stranger was the subject of their conversation. "Where are you going?" Dr Foster asked.

"Two miles west of here," the stranger stated.

"Why?" Dr Foster demanded. Jack, who had started becoming curious about the stranger, decided to follow them and see what was going on.

"To get what belongs to me," the stranger answered. Jack grinned, he _knew_ the owner would show up to claim it.

"So now you own a satellite?" Dr Foster asked. Jack's eyebrows raised at that. The Feds were claiming it was a satellite? How crazy was that?

"It's not what they say it is."

"Well, whatever it is, the government seems to think it's theirs. So, you just intend to go in there and take it?" The stranger claimed that was exactly what he was going to do, and that he would explain everything once he had reclaimed 'Mjolnir,' whatever that was.

The other scientist, a Dr Erik Selvig pulled Dr Foster aside and said that the stranger was dangerous and delusional because he was talking about Mjolnir, Thor and Bifrost. Jack gasped at that and turned to Arcee. "Did Cybertron ever meet a human-like civilization before? Maybe one calling itself Asgard?"

"Sorry Jack, but I'm the wrong person to ask about that. Optimus or Ratchet would be the only ones that would know about that," Arcee apologized.

Just then, a black van drove off with several pieces of equipment, things that Dr Foster claimed was hers. Curious, the duo followed the scientists to their hotel, and were shocked to find that Fowler was there, along with several other agents. One of them introduced himself as "Agent Coulson with SHIELD." Dr Foster objected very strongly to what he was doing, especially when he gave his explanation. "We're investigating a security threat. We need to appropriate your records and all your atmospheric data."

That was when Jack decided to step in. "Agent Fowler, do you really think that Dr Foster has _anything_ to do with national security? She's a cosmologist, not a nuclear physicist."

"Yes, yes, exactly!" Dr Foster agreed.

Fowler just shook his head. "Jack, this has nothing to do with you or your _friends_ ," indicating Arcee at the end. "Stay out of it."

"Well, as I recall, you can't legally do this unless you have a warrant, even under the PATRIOT Act," Jack countered, but Coulson just thanked Dr Foster for her 'cooperation,' and drove off, but not before Jack managed to shoot a tiny bug into the van and one onto Coulson himself.

The trio were quickly commiserating their loss as years of research had been taken. When Dr Selvig asked about the backups, Dr Foster answered "They took our backups. They took the backups of our backups. They were extremely thorough. Who are these people?"

Dr Selvig answered "I knew this scientist. The pioneer in gamma radiation. SHIELD showed up, and he wasn't heard from again."

"You don't mean Bruce Banner, do you?" Jack asked. When Selvig nodded, Jack grimaced. Banner was everything Selvig said and more, as the man had been researching the potential of gamma radiation in strengthening the human immune system. "Well, in a few minutes, I'm going to get everything you lost, doctors."

"How are you going to do that?" Dr Foster asked.

Jack grinned. "I'm going to make a call." Then he opened his phone and hit 2 on his speed dial. "Firewall, this is Blitz, the backdoor is open. First priority, find everything they have on Dr Jane Foster and Dr Erik Selvig. They should be adding a large amount of information soon, most of it scientific theories. Take it all."

"Blitz and Firewall? What's up with that?" Darcy Lewis asked after Jack hung up.

"Oh, a friend of mine is an _amazing_ hacker, and, well, as you may have guessed, we've had some dealings with Agent Fowler before. So we decided that when either of us needs the other and can't use our names, we would use codenames. He's Firewall because he's a hacker, and I'm Blitz because I'm pretty fast to stand up for what or who I believe in," Jack explained.

_Asgard_

"Why did he lie to me?" Loki asked his step-mother, Frigga as they watched over Odin.

"He kept the truth from you so you would never feel different," Frigga answered. "You are our son now, Loki, and we, your family. That is why your father discarded his plan to unite our realms. After a few years, Odin cared for you as more than just a potential pawn, but as a son. A pawn he could use as he wished and not be bothered, but he grew to love you just as much as Thor and I love you." Frigga stopped before deciding to reveal another family secret. "Did you know that I'm not actually Thor's mother?"

"What?" Loki asked in complete shock. He would have never guessed, Frigga was the perfect mother to both of them, and now to learn that she didn't share blood with two of her three sons?

"Odin has never approved of Midgard, and as he watched them, he noticed how quickly they grew in power. Asgard has a genius for war, he said at the time, but Midgard, they have a genius for _survival_ , and that can be far more dangerous. If they face an enemy that's stronger or smarter than them, they adapt and become all the more dangerous for it. They are among the weakest species in the universe, but under pressure, the humans adapt, and without much more prodding will soon be ready for a higher form of war. So, in response, Odin decided to create a son that would be strong on Midgard, and slept with Midgard's very personification: Gaea. Thor was the result, and because of that, I very much doubt that Thor would accept the crown when he returns."

"Does Thor know?" Loki asked.

"No, only the three of us in this room know."

The next question just begged to be asked. "And what of Balder, Mother? Are there any secrets around him?"

Frigga just smiled. "No, he's truly mine and Odin's son. I suppose that means by blood, _he_ should be king of Asgard right now, and not you or Thor." With that, Loki smiled for the first time since Thor's aborted coronation ceremony.

 

_July 18, 2012-SWORD/SHIELD camp just outside Alamo, NV_

 

Fowler was glaring at Coulson as the man left the interrogation room. Coulson is put in charge of security, yet one man, one _single_ man manages to not only get through, but take out all but one of the SHIELD agents! To make matters worse, this man hasn't said so much as a word since failing to lift the 084. He would have to watch this one closely. Then, without warning, someone else showed up, a dark haired man in a nice suit. The so-called 'mercenary' spoke for the first time, asking the other man "Loki, what are you doing here?" Loki? Odd name. Sounded foreign.

"I had to see you," Loki responded.

"What's happened? Tell me, is it Jotunheim? Let me explain to father." So, the two men were brothers? He wouldn't have guessed it, but it wasn't so hard to believe. And what on Earth was Jotunheim? Or could it be that Jotunheim was another world?

"Father has fallen into the Odinsleep, and Mother fears he will never waken again." Odinsleep? Almost sounded like a coma the way Loki described it. Then again, if they _were_ aliens, then it might be something completely different.

"When?"

"Not long after he banished you. Between that and the threat of a new war with Jotunheim, it was too much. Mother also says that he had been putting it off for far too long, so you mustn't blame yourself. The burden of the throne has fallen to me now." Well, that settles that. If they were human, they weren't from any place that Fowler had heard of.

"Can I come home?"

"No, not yet."

"Why not?"

"Because you have not learned the lesson Father sent you here to learn."

"Lesson? What lesson?"

"To stop and _think_ before you do something, think about the possible consequences! To stop putting your pride over everything else! Did you really think that Father would put Mjolnir here to taunt you? Don't you remember what Father said at your banishment? You were not worthy of the realms, your title or our friends. Once you _are_ worthy, Mjolnir will be yours again, then and only then can you return. I'm sorry, Thor, but I will not let you return until you _are_ worthy. This is goodbye, for now." Hmm, enlightening, very enlightening.

"Goodbye," the newly named Thor replied, as Loki disappeared from sight.

And just as Coulson returned to the room. "Goodbye? I just got back."

"And I think that it's my turn, Coulson," Fowler insisted. Then, turning to Thor, he asked "Let's start with your brother and how he does his little disappearing trick, shall we?"

 

_Asgard_

 

Upon Loki's return from Jotunheim, he found Heimdall gazing at him intently. "What troubles you, Gatekeeper?" he asked the other man.

"I turned my gaze upon you in Jotunheim, but could neither see you nor hear you. You were shrouded from me like the Frost Giants that entered this realm."

Loki decided to do something that he would normally never do in such circumstances: he decided to be honest. "That is because of the nature of my negotiations with Jotunheim. I have created a binding treaty with Jotunheim that is dependent on one thing, and you would normally oppose it: more Jotuns entering Asgard."

"And why would you do such a thing, my king?"

"Because of Laufey's declaration of war. I am appearing to be giving them a chance to win it effortlessly, when in truth, by the end of the day we will be stronger than them than we have ever been since the end of the last war. The treaty is sealed the moment they set foot in Asgard, no matter what happens to them. Even Farbaut will be forced to accept the treaty," Loki explained. Heimdall simply raised an eyebrow, but simply nodded. "Good, then you will open the Bifrost to no one until I order it so," Loki ordered as he left.

 

_July 18, 2012-Autobot Outpost Omega One, NV_

 

The next morning, Jack decided to take Arcee's advice and ask Ratchet about Thor, so he deliberately got up early so that when he finished talking to the grouchy medic, he could go check on Thor and Dr Foster. He wasn't expecting much, so naturally he was shocked when Ratchet asked "And how do you know about Thor?"

"Umm, outside of Norse mythology, apparently he's here."

"Asgard's crown prince is on Earth?! What is it about this backwater planet that everyone finds so fascinating?" Ratchet asked aloud.

"So you do know Thor and Asgard?"

"Oh, yes, Cybertron had diplomatic relations with Asgard before the War. It was just after they had finished their own war with Jotunheim, a planet of ice creatures that had dreams of conquering other planets and eventually overthrowing Asgard as ruler of the 'Nine Realms.'"

"And what are the Nine Realms?" Jack asked.

"Oh, nine planets connected by a group of wormholes that they accessed through a device they called Bifrost. We last saw them a few months before the War began, as Odin, the ruler of Asgard declared that they would be retreating from the rest of the universe, at least for now. Asgardians are very long lived, and like so many other long lived races, do not have much luck when it comes to fertility, so it was most likely in order to allow their population to recover. Even your own galaxy is a very crowded, dangerous place," Ratchet explained.

"It is?" Jack asked, shocked to hear that there were yet more alien races out there to be found.

"Oh, yes," Ratchet continued. "Among the most dangerous are the Kree and the Skrull empires. The Kree are a harsh, violent, humanoid race, typically with blue skin, but more human skin colors are also possible. The Skrulls are a shape-shifting race that typically grows it's empire by trade, though they also have a strong military. Those two have been at war for _millions_ of years because of a simple contest the Skrulls had set up. Then there is another, one who is easily more dangerous than all the other races, near and far combined. His every step is marked in the blood of _billions_ , he is so feared that none speak his name save in whispers, myth and _nightmares_. He has been responsible for the destruction of entire worlds, he is almost pure evil, and his name is . . . _Thanos_." Jack stared at the tough medic in shock, as he shuddered in fear just of the being's _name_! How dangerous was this Thanos?

 

_Asgard_

 

Loki knew what would happen the moment the Bifrost activated, and he also knew that the Warriors Three and Sif had never so much as liked him. So, if his plan to secure the peace was to work, he needed to buy some time, and there was only one way to do that: he activated the Destroyer. "Follow them, and delay their return, and make certain they view you as a threat, but do not kill Thor."

 

_July 18, 2012-Alamo, NV_

 

An hour later, Jack was returning to Dr Foster's to see how well Raf had done in retrieving her data. He was shocked to find that Thor, whom Ratchet had called a prince, was _serving breakfast_ to Dr Foster and her team. Suppressing his shock, Jack knocked on the door and was quickly welcomed in by Dr Foster. "I don't know how you did it, but _thank you_! We got all our data back thanks to your friend!"

"Don't mention it, Firewall and I have been looking for a way into SHIELD for a while now, but their firewalls were simply too good, even for him. I had come up with a way to deliver a Trojan Horse to SHIELD, you simply provided the perfect opportunity," Jack said.

As the three scientists and Thor ate breakfast, Dr Foster explained her theory of the Einstein-Rosen bridge, and the possibility of a connection to Asgard. But Dr Selvig doubted it, stating "It's a beautiful theory, Jane. But you won't convince the scientific community of any of it. Not without hard evidence."

Just then, there was another knock at the door, and a voice calling out "Found you!" The three humans and one cyborg turned around and froze in shock at the sight greeting them: four humans, all dressed in a kind of armor that Earth had never seen. Darcy and Selvig were so shocked that both of them dropped their coffee cups. Jack simply studied them, and unknowing upgraded his armor.

Thor on the other hand greeted them warmly, calling them "My friends! This is good! This is good."

Then the large, bearded man who had originally greeted Thor introduced themselves as "Lady Sif and the Warriors Three, at your service."

Thor smiled at them, but there was a touch of sadness in his eyes. "My friends, I have never been happier to see anyone. But you should not have come."

They laughed at that before the blond stated "We're here to take you home."

"You know I can't go home, not until I have redeemed myself enough to be worthy of Mjolnir again. I have placed my home in danger of war and nearly got all of you killed. No, I must stay and serve out my punishment, it is just."

"No, it is not," the Oriental-looking man stated. "We have reason to suspect that Loki cloaked the Jotuns that disturbed your coronation. Your actions may have been your own, but they were guided by Loki's hand."

Thor started to get mad at that. "Have care with your words, Hogun. You speak of my brother, and it is because I did not listen to his counsel that I stand here today."

"And Loki sits on the throne!" Sif argued in return.

"Then you speak treason by speaking against your king!" Thor retaliated. "Have you even found any evidence against Loki?"

"Whoa, I guess we should be glad Thor doesn't have Myeu-muh, 'cause he looks like he wants to put the hammer down on them," Darcy whispered.

Jack was about to nod, when he noticed a small cloud forming to the north of town. "Thor, who can use Bifrost?"

"It has only been built in Asgard, but anyone in the Nine Realms can use it, why?"

"Because someone else is coming here," Jack explained, pointing out the window. Everyone rushed to the window, while Jack listened to the bug on Coulson. _Get someone from linguistics down here_ , Coulson ordered, just before the Bifrost's distinctive column of cloud descended almost on top of him.

 _Is that one of Stark's?_ someone asked.

 _I don't know. The guy never tells me anything_ , Coulson complained. Then he heard Coulson speaking over a bullhorn. _Hello. You are using unregistered weapons technology. Identify yourself._ He must have stopped using the bullhorn, because his next words were quieter. _Here we go. Incoming!_ Coulson screamed out, just before several explosions sounded over the bug.

That was enough for Jack. He ran out of the diner and hopped on Arcee. "Arcee, can you activate your guns like those Cons could the day we first met?"

"Easily, but why?" Arcee asked as she allowed him to take them north.

"Trust me, you'll want them!" Jack shouted. Within seconds, they had arrived at the man-shaped machine, one that could probably compare to Arcee in size. Instantly Arcee started firing, though the hits didn't seem to do much damage. "Scrap! I'm open to suggestions!" Jack said as they narrowly avoided a blast from the machine.

"Do you see any weaknesses?" Arcee asked.

"No. It's made of strips of metal, but I don't see where they welded the strips together. Hell, I can't even see what's keeping it standing, or tell what's controlling it!" They made several more passes at the machine, but it continued into town, destroying everything in sight. Volstagg attempted to take it from behind, but with the great shout it gave, the Destroyer easily heard him coming and backhanded him into a car. It was about to blast Volstagg, until Sif stabbed it from behind, seemingly taking it out. At least, until it rebooted and turned itself around to blast her. And now it was mad, blasting Sif and everything it could hit. Jack and Arcee were barely able to keep ahead of it's attacks, until out of the blue, Thor walked up to the Destroyer as calm as a summer breeze, and speaking to Loki. He begged for forgiveness for whatever wrongs he had committed against his brother and asked that he take his anger out on him instead of the people of Alamo. The Destroyer, which had done absolutely nothing during his speech, simply backhanded him when Thor got too close. Volstagg had taken a similar hit and walked away without anything worse than bruises, but for Thor, who was as weak and vulnerable as a human, it was fatal.

As Jane wept over Thor, the Destroyer walked away, unsatisfied, or at least as unsatisfied as a machine without true intelligence could be. It had failed in it's mission and killed Thor. As Thor's heart slowed, he could have sworn he heard Odin's voice saying _Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor._ At the SHIELD/SWORD outpost, Mjolnir moved for the first time since Jack put it back where he found it. It shuddered, breaking some of the rock around it before shooting up into the air and flying at supersonic speed back to it's masters hand. As soon as Thor touched it again, an enormous storm cloud formed over Jasper and struck Thor with a blast of lighting, reviving and healing Thor, as well as returning his armor to him. Jane had only one response to it. "Oh. My. God."

"In this case, I think the proper phrase would be 'Oh my _gods_ ,'" Jack quipped, though he was just as shocked at the turn of events as Dr Foster was. With his revival, Thor quickly hit the Destroyer with Mjolnir before flying up and creating a _twister_ of all things in the middle of town, one that quickly picked the Destroyer up, yet left the rest of the town untouched. Within two minutes, Thor did on his own what Arcee, Sif and the Warriors Three had not been able to do, and destroyed the Destroyer. Upon his landing, the humans finally got a good look at what Thor usually looked like, and Jack had to say "Now _that_ is what I expected Thor to look like."

Thor was just about to leave in order to return to Asgard when Coulson and Fowler arrived. "Donald? I don't think you've been completely honest with me," Coulson stated.

Thor's response was simple. "Know this, Son of Coul. You and I, we fight for the same cause, the protection of this world. From this day forward, you can count me as your ally _if_ you return the items you have taken from Jane."

"Stolen," Jane corrected.

"Borrowed," Coulson corrected her. "Of course, you can have your equipment back. You're going to need it to continue your research." Thor then flew off with Jane to the Bifrost sight, while Coulson called out "Wait! We need to debrief you!" When it became clear that Thor wasn't going to come back, Coulson turned to Jack and stated "My men saw what you did. When you graduate, we'll be-"

"Oh, no you don't, Coulson," Fowler interrupted. "I already have a claim on him. If Jack is joining either of our organizations, he's joining SWORD. Especially since he already knows about a Level 7 secret," he grumbled.

"SWORD?" Coulson asked. "SWORD is the underfunded laughing stock of the intelligence community. SHIELD is highly respected, the successor to the SSR-" The two continued for some time, allowing Jack, Dr Selvig and Darcy to escape the duo and go their separate ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, first things first, I must give credit where credit is due. The explanation as to why Tony is actually dying belongs to Ryan Carlyle, a man who took what we know of the Arc reactor and wrote an article for the Huffington Post, explaining not only how it probably works, but also the effects I explained. The line about Asgard having a genius for war and humanity a genius for survival as well as the description of Thanos comes from Nimbus Llewelyn's Child of the Storm, a Harry Potter/Avengers crossover that is a massive hit, and an impressive read. He has created an amazing world in the story, which is currently at 65 chapters and more than 500,000 words, and he hasn't even finished the Hogwarts year that he started in!
> 
> Next, a quick explanation about Mjolnir. The enchantment says that 'whosoever is worthy' may wield Mjolnir. Jack is able to pick it up for much the same reason that Sam can hold the Matrix of Leadership as I believe that the requirements would be the same. (Admittedly, I am quite confused as to why Steve can't lift Mjolnir, but I am encouraged by the fact that he actually moved it. That's more than almost anyone else can say.) Third, that is the last we'll see or hear of the Avengers or other Marvel characters for the rest of the season, but rest assured, they will be returning, even if the majority of you vote against New York. Fourth, for those of you who haven't seen Agents of SHIELD, a 084 is an object of unknown origin, which Mjolnir certainly counts as at first. And for the final note, SWORD and SHIELD are basically the same organization, SWORD just deals with extraterrestrial threats, while SHIELD focuses on Earth-based threats. Right now, SWORD is an under-funded branch of SHIELD that is considered a laughingstock throughout the intelligence world and is mostly concerned with the Transformers war and SETI. Now I have a request for those of you with YouTube accounts: make a music video of Airachnid with Night of the Hunter. Despite how perfect the song is for her, there is nothing! The one who does and let's me know gets Airachnid's next chapter dedicated to them, and I will grant them one request concerning this story, whether it be spoilers, creating a plot point, whatever.
> 
> In the next chapter: the Bumblebee/Megatron storyline and my explanation of the Cortical Psychic Patch, including why the Autobots banned it, why the two sides can't just hack each others minds to get them to switch sides, and how Megatron managed to jump to Bee's body.


	8. Patch Job

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, italics is either radio communication or Bee talking in person, while bold italics are Bee’s radio comms, which I will gladly state is not completely my own. They are based off Elhini Prime’s translations from her story on FanFiction.net From Dusk to Dawn: Daughter of Ivorras, Ward of Primes, one part of a long series that merges the Beyverse and Prime, along with an alternate universe of her own creation. I hope you enjoy my explanation as to why the Corticle Psychic Patch is illegal, and why Cybertronians can’t just hack each other’s minds to force them to switch sides.

 

**Chapter VII: Patch Job**

 

  
_July 31, 2012-Autobot Outpost Omega One_

 

 Two weeks after Thor returned to Asgard, Ratchet was messing with the frequency of the sensors when he discovered the Nemesis somewhere near the Mongolia-China border, as well as a distress signal on the same frequency.  Naturally, Optimus opted for the ‘humanitarian’ mission over the attack, and he bridged over with Ratchet, just in case.  Then, without warning, Ratchet called “Ratchet to base!  Raf, activate the groundbridge, and Arcee, keep the others back!  We have trouble.”  Mere seconds later, and Ratchet was helping Optimus back, and set up a makeshift medbay in the hangar.  “What happened?” Arcee demanded.

  
 “The derelict was a plague ship, and Optimus made contact with the infected Energon, I’ll need to scan him to know what the plague is,” Ratchet explained.  In the time it took for Ratchet to get his medical scanner, Optimus had begun to look sick, as the area around his eye looked like it had started to rust, some of it with a blue tinge, while his optics sparked, like a light bulb would when it was dying.  “Cybonic Plague,” was Ratchet’s diagnosis.  “It’s only contagious if contact is made with the infected Energon.”

  
 “What was a plague doing on an Autobot ship?” Miko demanded.

  
 “For the same reason we’d do the same a few hundred years ago,” Jack explained.  “In order to contain the plague, and save those who hadn’t been infected.”

  
 “He’s right, the virus wiped out millions on Cybertron during the Great War,” Arcee agreed.

  
 “Cybonic plague was engineered in the Decepticon biological warfare program, by Megatron himself,” Ratchet continued.

  
 Raf asked if there was a cure, but Optimus had to explain that they didn’t.  “Okay, so we don’t have a cure, but would Megatron really create a plague without an antidote?  What if he or one of his more useful lieutenants were infected?” Jack asked.  It was rare, but there were definitely times where having an RN for a mom was useful.

  
 “It’s not like we can ask him, Jack,” Bulk countered.  “Megatron’s pushing up lugnuts, remember?”

  
 “And we have the coordinates of the Nemesis,” Jack countered.  “If the ship’s database doesn’t have it, then Doc Knock should, right?”

  
 “Jack’s got a point.  Bee, you want to come with me?” Arcee asked.  Instead of answering verbally, Bee simply walked to the bridge and punched in the coordinates.

  
 “Arcee, hurry,” Ratchet stated.  Arcee nodded as her and Bumblebee drove into the bridge.

  
 For the next few minutes, all they could do was listen to the comms.  _“Let’s start with the lab.”_

  
**_“Arcee, there’s Knockout.  Can’t we take him now?”_** Bee asked.

  
_“No, first we check the database, then if we can’t find it, we take him.”_   A few minutes passed before Arcee stated _“I’m in the database.”_   Thirty minutes passed uneventfully before Arcee reported _“If it’s here I don’t see it.”_

  
 “Are you certain, Arcee?” Ratchet asked.

  
_“I’ve searched every file.  There’s nothing!”_

  
 “Have you tried searching for ghost files?” Raf asked, offering his expertise on hacking.

  
_“Done that.  And before you suggest it, Ratchet, I have used a redundant quantum algorithm.  I’ve scanned the entire database three times using every method I know!”_

  
  ** _“Arcee, I really think you should look at this,”_** Bee stated.  Jack subconsciously leaned forward, eager to learn what Bee had found.

  
 Arcee snapped at him before apparently following him.  Ratchet demanded to know what was going on, just before Arcee gasped in shock.  _“It’s .  . . Megatron.  He’s alive.”_

  
 “What?  But you said he was at ground zero of the blast!” Jack cried out.

  
_“Well, I’m staring right at him, partner.  Good news, Megatron isn’t exactly staring back.  He’s critical, hooked up to life support.  Time to finish this once and for all.”_

  
 “Wait!” Jack cried out.  “Arcee, don’t kill him!  We need Megatron alive!”

  
_“What?!  Give me one good reason.”_

  
 “I think he could save Optimus.”

  
 Ratchet was quick to agree.  “By the All Spark, of course!  Does he display brainwave activity?”

  
_“Spiking hard.  His sick mind is still at work.”_

  
 “Perfect!” Ratchet exclaimed.  “If a cure exists, then Megatron may be the only one who knows it.  You must enter his mind, and find it.”

  
_“Enter Megatron’s mind?  Ratchet, are you out your fraggin’ mind?!”_

  
 “The Decepticon lab should have all the equipment you need for a Corticle Psychic Patch.”

  
_“No way!  Ratchet, you must be glitching!  A patch job is illegal, you know that!”_   Jack’s eyebrows raised at that.  Ratchet was one of the most by-the-book guys he had ever met, and he was suggesting something that was illegal?  He must be desperate!  Jack on the other hand was as calm as he could be.  He knew that either Bee or Arcee could find what they needed, and on the off chance that they couldn’t, then he could.  His hand subconsciously moved over his spark chamber, where he kept one of Sam’s most prized possessions.  He knew it would work, but he couldn’t guess as to the potential side effects of using it in another universe.

  
 “I also know that it may be the only way to save Optimus!  We don’t have time to figure anything else out!  One of you must try this!” Ratchet yelled out.  “I will not allow Optimus to pass, knowing Megatron will outlive him!”

  
_“Listen, Ratchet, I would lay down my life for Optimus, anytime, anywhere.  But a mind/body split, especially with the patch-”_

  
**_“I’ll do it.”_ **

  
_“You will?”_

  
 “Are you sure, Bumblebee?” Raf asked worriedly.

  
 “Bee’s the best scout there is,” Bulkhead said, just as Arcee reluctantly agreed.

  
 While Bee and Arcee set up the Corticle Psychic Patch, Jack decided to ask “Hey, Ratchet, why did the Autobots declare the Patch illegal in the first place?”

  
 “To understand that, you need to understand something about the Cybertronian mind.  Our minds are unlike any other in all the cosmos.  Our short term memory and general knowledge are a part of our CPU, our brain as you might call it.  But our long term memories and personal or special knowledge, like my medical skills or Megatron’s gladiatorial skills are a part of our spark, which is basically a combination of our mind, heart and soul.  When the Autobots first discovered the Corticle Psychic Patch, the High Council was intrigued, until they discovered what it did.  Shockwave, the main Decepticon scientist had discovered a way to patch into the knowledge buried in our sparks, something that had been forbidden ever since the days of the Thirteen original Primes.

  
 “Optimus and the others could instantly see what would happen if Shockwave continued on this particular line of research, and immediately ordered the Wreckers and several other heavy hitters to attack Shockwave’s laboratories and destroy all his research.”

  
 Bulkhead spoke up then.  “Yeah, I remember that mission.  Optimus ordered everything destroyed, no matter the cost.  It was the first time he had ever given such an order, and it was the first time that the Wreckers ever had any backup for a mission.  Well, actually it was more of a campaign than a mission.  We must have hit labs all over the planet!”

  
 “Why?  What could Shockwave have done with the research?” Raf asked.

  
 “From the very beginning of the war, Megatron sought a way to force Autobots to switch allegiances to him.  And for a time, it seemed he had succeeded in creating a computer virus to do just that.”  Jack recoiled in horror at the thought of such a virus.  Megatron could force him and the others to become Decepticons?  “Fortunately, there is a built in safety system to prevent such measures.  When our knowledge and memories move from our CPU to our sparks, they are purged of anything foreign, anything that we did not add ourselves.  As a result, Megatron’s viruses were never anything more than a short-term gain.  If any of us were to switch sides, it would have to be of our own free will.”  Jack breathed a sigh of relief at that, they were safe.  “But with the Corticle Psychic Patch tapping directly into our sparks, that safety system was completely bypassed.  The High Council knew that if Shockwave could continue his research, Megatron’s dark dreams could finally be realized.  That is why Optimus ordered the all-out assault on Shockwave’s laboratories.  Because so long as Shockwave could continue his research, we were all at risk.  Fortunately we managed to destroy it all, so far as we know anyways.  While the list of material to use the Patch is available, there is nothing on how it works, or the theory behind it,” Ratchet finished.

  
 Just as Ratchet finished his explanation, Arcee called out _“Ratchet, we’re ready.”_

  
 “Initiate the Corticle Psychic Patch,” he ordered.  Instantly, a new screen showed up, and they could see and hear everything Bumblebee could.

  
 The scene they saw was mostly fiery pits on a metal world, with a very hellish look.  “So, where is that?” Jack asked.

  
**_“I’m not sure, but it reminds me of Kaon,”_** Bee answered, with Raf quickly providing a translation.  Ratchet told him to hurry, but just then, Bee stumbled upon Optimus of all people!  Ratchet was quick to explain that it was nothing more than a figment of Megatron’s imagination.

Then Megatron's dark laughter filled the audio. _"Optimus Prime, your Autobot armies are defeated! Bow before your new master."_

And with typical Optimus optimism, the image responded _"Never, Megatron! One shall stand, one shall fall,"_ he finished, activating his sword.

_"So be it,"_ Megatron agreed. And with a single swipe of his sword, Megatron defeated the image.

" _That_ never happened!" Bulk shouted, quick to object to Megatron's imagination.

"Bulk, _of course_ it didn't happen!" Jack told him. "This is Megatron's _mind_ , and he's in a coma. What we're seeing is his mind keeping itself occupied by fulfilling his greatest dream, defeating Optimus. Which means . . . that really _is_ Megatron!" Jack was shocked to realize. "Bee, get out of there!"

_**"What? Why?"**_ Bee asked, with Raf quickly translating. At the same time, another Optimus had been created from a pile of rocks to confront Megatron.

"Think! If Megatron realizes that you aren't one of his dream constructs, he will wake up! Megatron will come out of his coma, and then we'll have to deal with him again!" Jack explained, absolutely terrified of the idea.

But it was too late. For while Jack had been talking, Bee had instinctively jumped to the defense of the Optimus construct, and Megatron was now attacking Bee directly. But because Bee was real, the attacks had no effect on him, and Megatron had realized it. _"You are not wearing phase displacement armor. Your eyes track my movement so you're not a hologram. And I do not believe in spirits. So tell me scout: what are you?"_

Then yet another construct of Optimus appeared to challenge Megatron, along with Bulkhead and Bee. "Too late," Jack stated, absolutely worried about his friend, yet convinced that nothing could be done to save him.

_**"Well, this is weird,"**_ Bee stated to Megatron. Then he ran over to his double and waved his servo in front of it's optics. _**"Hello! Anybody home?"**_

Megatron yelled in frustration before destroying all the constructs with a few shots. _"You are real, they were not!"_ he realized. _"Heh, a corticle psychic patch. How unexpected from an Autobot. But if this is my subconscious, what are you doing inside my head?!"_ he demanded.

Suddenly, Starscream and Knockout's voices came through the comms. They were discussing Megatron's condition with Soundwave, but Jack only focused on a few key phrases. _"Deathless slumber forever," "Megatron may never wake," "Megatron is lost to us," "Show him mercy," "A simple throw of the switch," "Quick, painless, compassionate."_

Ratchet explained what the consequences would be. "If Megatron perishes, Bumblebee's spark will remain separated from his body, forever."

"We'll lose both Bee and Optimus?" Jack asked, positively terrified at the possibility. That was just how it started in Sam's world! "Bee, get out of there!"

"But what about Optimus?" Bulkhead asked.

"I'd rather lose just Optimus than Optimus _and_ Bee!" Jack yelled, his fear getting the better of him.

But Bee wasn't going to leave, and Megatron continued speaking with him, completely unaware of the conversation his second lieutenant and chief medical officer were having. _"The only way you'd be able to enter my mind is via corticle psychic patch. But the question remains: what happened to me?!"_ After a few seconds of silence, he remembered. _"The spacebridge explosion! And yet, if you're in my head, then I am not one with the Allspark. So tell me, scout, do I still function?!"_

Bumblebee had decided that he was _not_ leaving without the cure, so he decided to hurry it up. _**"Yes, you still function, but I need the cure for the Cybonic Plague."**_

_"Cybonic Plague? Someone besides myself is . . . Is unwell?"_ Bee gave a nod, and Megatron figured it out. _"Optimus! He is the only one that you would go to such lengths to save! Such irony! After ages of endless battle, the mighty Optimus Prime is felled by a simple virus from the distant past. And what makes you think I would save the life of my oldest enemy?"_

And out of another irony, Bee found the answer thanks to Megatron's constructs of Optimus. _**"To get what you want most in the universe."**_

_"Oh? And what is it I want most, scout?"_

_**"To destroy Optimus yourself, by your own hand."** _

_"Did you not see? I do destroy Optimus by my own hand, at will, whenever I desire!"_

_**"Yes, I saw. But what glory is there in destroying an illusion? If you let the Plague destroy Optimus, you will never get the chance to do it yourself. History will always remember how the Undefeated Gladiator of Kaon couldn't defeat Optimus, and let a virus do it instead. They will always wonder which of you was better, the Last of the Primes, or the undefeated gladiator turned revolutionary?"** _

When Raf translated, leaving out the end, Jack had to admit that Bee was extremely impressive, and cunning to turn Megatron's pride and ambition against him. And Megatron agreed. _"After our deep history together, to_ not _watch the Spark ebb from his eyes with my very own-"_

_**"Would be a crime in and of itself,"**_ Bee finished.

_"Well played, scout."_ Then, Megatron revealed the formula, and both Jack and Ratchet were quick to capture it and download it to their files. _"The chemical formula for the cure you seek, not that I expect you to know how to read it."_ Bee reached for it, but Megatron pulled it back. _"Not yet. And how am I supposed to accomplish terminating Optimus as you propose, while I am trapped here in this perpetual dream? Once you release me from this prison, you will have the cure. You must guarantee my recovery, or Optimus fades to gun metal grey. The_ real _Optimus."_

Jack grinned as he called his partner. "Arcee, mission accomplished, we have the formula. Get Bee out of there, now!" Within minutes, the duo were back, and Arcee was giving them a debrief, which ended with her saying that the last thing she did before leaving was to shoot Megatron's life support system. Jack couldn't believe it. Megatron was gone, this time for good? It seemed too good to be true! And mere hours after that, Ratchet had synthesized the cure for the Cybonic Plague and cured Optimus. Everything was perfect . . . a little too perfect, as Jack noticed that during the celebrations, Bee's eyes shifted, almost as if he wasn't in control of his own body. Well, Sam owed Bee, big time, so Jack decided he would start working on that debt by watching over Bee for the next few weeks, just in case there were side effects of the Patch job he had done.

_August 9, 2012-Autobot Outpost Omega One_

A few days after they saved Optimus, Jack and Miko were shocked to learn that the Patch _had_ had an unsavory affect on Bee. During the extraction process, Megatron's spark had been extracted as well, resulting in Bee carrying not only his but also Megatron's spark, and when Bee was powered down in an attempt to heal what Ratchet believed was merely a tired mind, Megatron used the opportunity to take over Bee and revive his body, meaning now Megatron was back at full strength. And now it appeared as though he was out to reanimate the late Skyquake, something Miko would have normally been excited about, yet she was surprisingly quiet about it. "That's not like Miko to not want to go," Jack stated. "Remember how she reacted when she learned about the zombie-cons the first time?"

"She's definitely up to something," Raf agreed.

As Arcee activated the bridge, Miko made her move and ran for the bridge. "Making a break!" Jack called out as he and Raf ran after her, with Jack catching her arm just before she went through. "It's not safe! The zombies will be even more dangerous than what we saw on the _Nemesis_!"

"I don't care! I'm not gonna miss my first zombie-con throw down!" Miko stated, wrenching away from Jack, and dropping her phone in the escape.

"Miko," Jack grumbled, good naturedly, while wondering why his partner hadn't shut down the bridge after the Bots had left. Jack was a little exasperated by Miko's escapes, and was convinced that she was an adrenaline junkie. But Jack and Raf followed her anyways, just as curious now that it was clear that they were going anyways. However, when they arrived, they were shocked to see not Megatron, but _Starscream_ attempting to raise Skyquake.

"Let's see some fight of the living dead, already!" Miko called out.

"You're crazy, you know that?" Raf asked.

"Hey, I totally missed out last time! This might be my only chance to take some snaps," she countered before reaching for her phone, only to realize it was gone. "My cell phone! I must have dropped it back at base."

"Well, since we're already here," Jack started, before handing her his own phone. "Just make sure to give it back after you have your photos, okay?"

"You made me lose my phone, and you think offering yours is going to fix things?!" Miko yelled out. Jack would have argued, but he didn't want to waste the time. Then two ground bridges activated at the same time. Ratchet instantly ordered the three of them into their bridge, and they did so without argument, though Miko was probably doing so only to reacquire her phone. But during the trip, the bridge _exploded_ , blowing the trio out of it, and back to the canyon with the Autobots. "You two okay?" Jack asked once he had gotten up.

Raf and Miko both said they were fine, just as Bulkhead got up in front of them, asking what had happened. After the other Autobots got up, Ratchet replied "I can't be certain. But if two ground bridges sent to the same coordinates cross streams, the feedback could have caused a system overload."

Miko sarcastically replied to Ratchet's theory, but it was Bulkhead's response that scared Jack. "The kids made it through, right?"

Raf was totally confused, but Jack instantly started thinking. When Ratchet said that there was no sign, and Bulkhead ended up accidentally putting a foot through Miko, he started to get an idea, but it wasn't until Ratchet said that they had probably been bridged to an unintended destination that it came together. "Guys, we're in another dimension," Jack explained.

"You mean like an alternate reality?" Raf asked.

"No, that's completely different. An alternate reality is like the Mirror Universe in Star Trek. Those are our bots, this is our Earth, it's just that we've ended up in a . . . shadowzone because of the overload. We can see and hear our normal dimension, but anyone in that dimension can't see, hear or touch us; the only things _we_ can touch is each other, since we're in the same phase, and the ground. The question is, what else ended up in here with us?" Jack got his answer when an enormous Seeker zombie-con rose up in front of them and went after the Autobots, to no effect. "Guys, I think we're in trouble. As soon as I start shooting, run, understand?" The two nodded, and Jack started shooting at Skyquake's neck, the bullets hitting their target, though they didn't do much damage. Skyquake noticed what Jack was doing and charged at him with a roar, or rather, charged at him with all the speed your average zombie could muster.

The trio quickly started running in an attempt to escape Skyquake, only being delayed by the fact that Raf tripped, forcing Jack to help him up, and Miko needing to retrieve his glasses in such a way that it basically confirmed his suspicion of her being an adrenaline junkie. Who else would deliberately run under a Decepticon's feet when they could easily avoid them? Especially when Jack was shooting at it with Energon enhanced bullets, which apparently had a tendency to explode. Fortunately, Miko managed to escape Skyquake as did they, since, as Miko stated when they stopped, zombies are very slow, and that stayed true even with 30 foot tall zombies. But just as she stated it, a noise started coming from somewhere near them.

_Make this count, let's go_

_When we move, we camoflage ourselves_

_We stand in the shadows waiting_

"Is that your . . ?" Raf asked.

"PHONE!" everyone realized at the same time. Jack was quick to open and answer, hoping for Arcee, but he was answered by nothing but static.

"Gee, imagine that, the fourth dimension has lousy cell phone reception," Miko grumbled.

"Fifth," Jack automatically corrected her before he realized something. "Guys, the phone rang! We have a signal, but whatever's caused us to come here is also keeping the Bots from hearing us. Which means, while we can't _talk_ to Arcee or the others, we _can_ write to them!"

"Text me!" Miko immediately offered. "If my phone's back at base, maybe they'll see it!" Jack quickly typed out a text message for Arcee, finishing it just before Skyquake found them, forcing them to run again. "Déjà vu," Miko called out a few minutes later. When Jack asked what she meant, she replied "This doesn't look familiar to you? Dude, we just ran one big circle!" she finished, just before they ran into something . . . a something that turned out to be the arm Starscream lost before the bridge exploded!

"Now _that_ we can use," Jack stated, referencing an earlier idea Miko had about eliminating Skyquake. "Come on, let's get it turned so we can hit Skyquake," he ordered. They had just moved it into place when the zombie lumbered into sight. "We have one shot, we need to make it count," Jack stated as he moved to the other side in order to balance the arm and hide his own transformed arm. Once they had Starscream's arm aimed correctly, Jack turned to Miko and said "When I give the signal, pull his pointer finger." Skyquake then turned towards them, and after he took three more steps, Jack called out "Now!" and Starscream's missile as well as Jack's own projectile went flying at the zombie. Both hit the zombie, causing an enormous explosion. When the smoke cleared, Skyquake fell to the ground, his spark chamber completely destroyed, while his own arm fell off and was instantly reanimated, giving chase to the trio, _again_! "Ah, come on!" Jack growled out as they started running.

Unfortunately their situation never got better, as they eventually ended up right back where they started, again. Jack was starting to get frustrated, was there no way out of this maze? Just then, Starscream appeared, calling for Skyquake to come to him. "Great, so even if we manage to escape the shadowzone, we will have him to deal with!" Jack grumbled. Suddenly, an idea came to mind, and all it needed to work was a little good timing on Ratchet's part. And sure enough, Ratchet came through, as mere seconds after Starscream's arrival, a ground bridge opened up. While Miko was excited that their plan had succeeded, Raf was more worried about the proverbial rock and a hard place. "Raf, don't worry, I have a plan," Jack said with a grin. "Get ready to go through the bridge when I give the signal." All three were prepared to run, as Jack watched the arm scurry towards them as fast as it could go. "Wait for it, wait for it, now!" Jack called out as the arm reached within 150 feet of them. They were quick to jump through the portal, passing right between Starscream's legs, while Skyquake's arm also passed through, but it hit Starscream, forcing the Seeker to deal with it, while the trio of kids escaped with Optimus, who appeared mere moments later.

_August 9, 2012-Darby home, Alamo, NV_

With school starting in a few days, Jack decided to look into what Raf had uncovered on SHIELD. What he was shocked to find was that SHIELD was basically an intelligence organization that dealt with threats that the government wouldn't, and those that the common people weren't ready to deal with yet, like the Hulk and Abomination creatures that had destroyed Harlem about a month earlier. They also had a presence in the mutant community, though it was fairly minimal now, unlike how it had been until Magneto's attack on Nixon in the seventies. Their sister agency, SWORD was much the same, though they focused on the threats from beyond Earth, like the Decepticons and any threats from Norse cosmology like the Destroyer. Unfortunately, due to the lack of belief in any life beyond Earth, SWORD was pretty under funded, meaning the only training facility for the two organizations was controlled by SHIELD. But that wasn't going to stop Jack. Using the backdoor Raf had placed, he signed himself up for online classes with the SHIELD Academy of Operations. While he didn't agree with their methods, he certainly believed in their goals and he knew that he wanted to join once he had graduated high school. Within minutes, his application had been filled out and accepted. In no more than four years, he would be an agent of SHIELD.


	9. Crisscross

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is an oblique reference in the early part of this to another Transformers Prime story, one that I started after an intriguing summary, but due to the content, I simply could not finish. The content of it quite simply terrifies me, as does most of the other stories with that content.

**Chapter VIII: Crisscross**

  
_September 12, 2012-Alamo, NV_

Two weeks into the new school year and Jack was the only one of his friends that could still take it easy, even with the SHIELD class work. Miko was behind in work already, (though that was possibly because of their last encounter with MECH/Hydra only a few days earlier,) and Raf had a big project he was working on that would hopefully help him get into whatever big college he wanted to go to. Oh well, it would be nice having the base to himself and the Bots. When he left the school though, he was shocked to find only Bee waiting for him. _“Hey Jack, where’s Raf?”_ he asked as Jack walked up to him.

“Hi Bee, Raf’s working on a project right now. He’s being oddly secretive about it. Oh, and his brothers are still there and they’re going to take him home,” Jack replied as he climbed in.

_“Ah nuts, I had hoped to find out what the project was! He’s been hinting about it since school started back up, but he hasn’t said anything substantial. It’s been driving me nuts! Sorry about it being me to pick you up, but Arcee’s out on a scouting mission.”_

Jack understood him perfectly, but to maintain his cover, he pretended to guess at what the Camaro said. “Arcee’s on a mission? Oh, well, at least I get to hang out with you, we don’t get to do that much, do we?”

 _“No, but I can understand why. Who would want to hang out with someone they can’t understand?”_ Bee said, utterly depressed.

“Hey, I want to hang with you, Bee,” Jack said. He could have guessed what Bee was saying even without understanding him, the depression was all too clear in his beeps, whistles and other electronic sounds that made up his voice. “Hey, how about this: you and I do a little gaming tournament? I know Raf says you’re the best he’s ever played, and he’s one of the best in Alamo.”

 _“Sounds good to me,”_ Bee said as they left the city limits. _“Do you want to race or do a shoot-‘em-up type? We have Star Wars: Battlefront II, Call of Duty, Resident Evil-”_

“NO!” Jack shouted. “No zombies, ever!” Then Jack realized what he’d done. “Scrap,” he whispered.

Bumblebee on the other hand had swerved to a stop in the middle of the road. _“Wh-what did you say?”_ he asked. _“Jack, can you understand me?”_

Jack just shook his head. “Well, what’s one more person? Yeah, I can understand you, Bee. Ever since you got back from the spacebridge mission.”

_“But how? I still don’t understand how Raf can understand me, let alone you!”_

“It’s a long story, one that should probably wait until we get back to base,” Jack replied.

_“Does Arcee know?”_

“Yeah, since just before we met Thor a couple months ago.” Bee made a pleased sound at that before heading off to his destination, which had changed after learning about what Jack could do. Upon arriving, Jack got out, only to turn to Bee in confusion. “What are we doing at Worthington Peak?” he asked. Jack hadn’t been to the mountain since his personal exploration and encounter with Blackout, no one had.

 _“Well, I got the feeling that you want to keep this a secret for now,”_ Bumblebee explained. _“So, how about those answers?”_

Jack sighed; he had hoped to save the explanations to the others until after whoever was supposed to arrive actually had, he wouldn’t have had to repeat himself so often then. “I have the memories and abilities of someone from another universe,” he started before giving an even briefer account than he had Arcee, except for one thing. “You were Sam’s guardian, Bee, and he still blames himself for your death.”

_“Why, what happened? How could he have been responsible?”_

“You and Wheeljack had been captured, and you were crushed because of orders that Sam gave to a couple of Minicons. Really, it was pure chance that you died, but he won’t listen to me,” Jack explained.

_“Wait, so he’s still conscious in your mind?”_

“Yeah, he’s basically just another piece of programming, but yeah, he’s still alive in there.”

_“Then Sam, this is for you: I don’t blame you for my counterpart’s death, and I doubt he would have either. Now, Jack, you up to going to base and doing some games? Raf’s good, but it gets boring playing the same person all the time.”_

“Sure thing, just no zombies, okay?” Jack answered with a laugh as he got in.

_“Why not? Is it because of the terrorcons?”_

“Please, your zombies are lightweights compared to ours,” Jack answered. “Our zombies are usually created due to a virus, and a highly communicable virus at that. A single bite is usually enough to spread it, and there’s typically no cure,” he finished, subconsciously rubbing his arm as he did so.

 _“Jack, are zombies real?”_ Bee asked upon noticing what Jack did.

“What? No, the only real zombies are the terrorcons. Why did you ask?”

_“Because it almost seemed like you had experienced them yourself. You were rubbing your arm when you mentioned that it could be spread by bite.”_

“I was?” a surprised Jack asked. “I had no idea, but unless Hydra created them, or there’s a mutant with that ability, zombies are pure fiction. Now, let’s get to base and have some fun, what do you say? Oh, and since this will be our first, you can pick the game.”

_September 20, 2012-Alamo, NV_

Three days into the grounding, and Jack was frustrated. Arcee had spoiled him when it came to transportation, he missed their talks. But his mom had been insistent: until his grades came up, there would be no meeting with his friends, and no Arcee. Fortunately she had bought the idea of Arcee staying with Raf’s family during the grounding, which meant he didn’t need to call her out of missions just to keep his mom happy. He was getting home late from work, and was shocked to find that she wasn’t home yet. Even stranger was the fact that a package had come for him. What made that strange was the fact that he never got mail, mostly because they had moved so fast that Jack had never gotten the chance to tell his New York friends his new address.

Curious, he opened it, only for a tablet-like device to come out. And from the device came an all too familiar voice. “Hello, Jack.”

“Silas,” he growled out. “How did you find out where I live?”

“We know things about your family that even you don’t know. For example, do you know where your mother is?”

Jack nearly lost his temper at that. “If you’ve harmed her, I swear to God-”

“Understand, Jack, we have no intention of hurting her. In fact, we’d like to reunite the two of you as soon as possible.”

“Yeah, and what’s the catch?”

“I just need you and Arcee to follow the coordinates programmed into the communicator. They’ll lead you to the temporary facility I’ve set up just for this meeting.”

“Hand over Arcee? I’d rather burn, but what choice do I have?”

“None, naturally. Oh, and don’t call for help. The communicator has a signal that scramble’s it’s location, and all other forms of communication.”

“Well then, we have a problem, because Arcee isn’t here. So you better disable that signal, or I can’t deliver your prize,” Jack growled out. He hated that he had to make a decision like this, but Arcee would be able to protect herself. Fortunately, Silas turned off the scrambler, allowing Jack to make his call. “Jack to Omega One, Arcee, are you there?”

**_“As far as I know, she’s in her quarters right now. What’s up, Jack?”_ **

“Bee? Silas has my mom, and he wants to trade her for Arcee. I have no choice.”

 _“No, you don’t,”_ Arcee’s reassuring voice stated. _“I’ll be there as soon as possible, Jack. Don’t worry, we’ll get her back.”_

Five minutes later, she had bridged over, and the partners were on their way out of Alamo and to the coordinates that Silas had provided, some 100 miles to the southeast. They arrived at the Cemex Mesquite Cement Plant about two hours later, only for them to be covered in red dots, obviously laser pointers. “So, what’s the plan?”

“The usual,” Arcee answered, as she revved up and prepared to charge the terrorists.

“Wait,” Jack said, hearing something all too familiar. Then he recognized it.

  
_Skinned her alive, ripped her apart_  
_Scattered her ashes, buried her heart,_  
_Rise up above it, high up above it to see_

  
“Scrap! They’ve made a deal with Airachnid! Go, go, go!” Instantly the femme went ahead with her plan, but after only two minutes of driving through the group, MECH got a lucky shot in, knocking Jack off and Arcee on her side. Instantly, she was webbed up by Airachnid, and the duo were surrounded by their enemies. Once Jack was sitting up, he glared at Silas before stating “I knew you were low, Silas, but I didn’t realize even Hydra was low enough to turn against their own species in exchange for alien knowledge.”  
“So, you know the truth, do you?” Silas asked, not even showing his shock at that fact. So long as the boy didn’t tell anyone, or only the right people, then Hydra was safe in the shadows. “I suppose you know that our deal has changed,” he stated, before ordering his men to search Jack.

“I knew that the second I realized Airachnid was here, scumbag,” Jack stated after the search was done. Then to the shock of everyone there, he threw a punch at one of the MECH soldiers. The punch itself did nothing to the soldier but make him mad, so he threw a punch at the teen, throwing him into Silas. “I swear, I will see you destroyed, Silas,” Jack growled out as he stood up.

“Like you tried to destroy me, Jack?” the all-too familiar voice called out. “I’ve spent a long time looking into how to pay you back, Jack. I’m still learning about humankind, but one thing is clear to me: you people care deeply about family. Therefore the sweetest revenge I could possibly devise is to make you watch as I tear your family apart!” Airachnid threatened. “Of course, you remember my fondness for sport, right? So I’ll give you the opportunity to save your mother. I’ve stashed her nearby, and if you can save her by the stroke of midnight, I’ll let both of you go, unharmed. What do you say?”

Jack gave an almost feral grin at her. “One of these days, I’m going to destroy you, Airachnid. You and MECH both,” he vowed before charging out. As he ran, he scanned the tallest structures at the mine, knowing how spiders preferred heights. Also, he tapped his pocket in a particular pattern, one that he knew Fowler would recognize when he got the message. Finally, two minutes before midnight, he found her. “MOM!!” he called out as he started running towards the tower she was on. As he climbed, he quickly pulled out his new pistol, safely hidden beneath the one part of him that was still completely human. Once he got to the top, he found Airachnid waiting for him, and he promptly shot her in the face. When that did nothing, he shot at her spider legs, which were currently the only things keeping her up there, and successfully knocked her to the bottom of the mine.

“Jack, what’s going on? Who are these people, and what is that thing?” June demanded of her son.

“Long story short, I found myself in the middle of an alien war, and the humans here are a branch of Hydra that managed to survive. Problem is, they want to use the aliens to finish what Schmidt started,” Jack explained. “Oh yeah, and my motorcycle? She’s one of the aliens on our side,” he finished with a grin. “Now, how to get you out safely?” he wondered.

Just then, Airachnid returned, stating “Sorry Jack, but you just lost!” Fortunately, just then Arcee appeared, hitting Airachnid and knocking her away from June. That allowed Jack to get back to focusing on saving his mom, but in his haste, he accidentally hit one of the controls for the plant. Watching as it went to work, it gave Jack an idea, if Arcee could help him finish it. Fortunately, Arcee managed to hit Airachnid into just the right place, which allowed Jack to hit another control and instantly, quick-dry cement started pouring onto the rogue Con.

Arcee then went to save June, just as Agent Fowler arrived with back-up. “That was a good idea swiping Silas’ communicator, Jack. But if I’d known Cons were involved, I’d have called Prime.”

“Eh, I think that would have been too much for Mom to handle for one night, Agent Fowler. Now, could you destroy that container the cement’s pouring into?”

“Will do. You heard him, obliterate it.” Unfortunately for them, all the helicopters guns managed to do was free the spider from her prison. Airachnid knew that she was outgunned and outmaneuvered, and decided to scan Fowler’s helicopter, transform and escape. Unfortunately, Silas and the MECH soldiers with him decided to follow her lead and also managed to escape. Afterwards, Fowler tried to give the official cover to Mrs Darby, but she glared at him, making it clear that she wasn’t going to buy it. The next day, Jack took her on the ride he promised, and she was introduced to the rest of the Autobots.

_September 28, 2012-Autobot Outpost Omega One_

A week later, and June Darby was still coming to the base to check on Jack, as if the five months with the Autobots hadn’t convinced her that Arcee could keep him safe! Just as she was embarrassing him, again, the computers found what Ratchet identified as “an extremely unusual magnetic flux, for any planet.”

“Magneto?” the two humans asked. When Arcee asked for clarification, Jack stated “He’s a mutant with the ability to control metal. He became infamous after threatening President Nixon in 1975, admittedly for a very good reason. Then about 30 years ago, he nearly helped another mutant called Apocalypse destroy the world, but he also saved it when he turned on Apocalypse. He’s been pretty quiet since then, actually. I wonder what he wants in Arizona,” he thought aloud, having noticed where the flux was coming from.

June was impressed at Jack’s knowledge of mutant history, and surprised at his statement about the attack on Nixon. She was about to ask what he meant when Bulkhead came in with Miko and Raf. Raf was quick to assure June that they had been safe, while Miko wondered what she had heard to cause June to ask how school was going. Arcee, who had had too much exposure to June in the past week, decided then and there to take the excuse Ratchet had provided. “Let’s do this thing, Jack. I’d be very interested in meeting this Magneto character.”

June was quick to complain about Jack going since she just got there, but Jack cut her off. “Mom, I get what you’re trying to do, but you need to understand something. All three of us have been involved in this war for five months, and the Autobots know how to keep us safe in any circumstance. We’ve all been out on scouting missions, and yes, even in combat situations. Remember Airachnid, the giant spider? I first met her because of a scouting mission, and at the first sign that there was something wrong, Arcee tried to send me back to base. When that failed, she faced her fears in order to protect me. So please, just back off!” And with that, he walked off to join his partner, who had also been joined by Bulkhead, leaving only June and Ratchet with Miko and Raf.

“So, what’s Magneto like,” Arcee asked once they arrived near the coordinates.

“Well, according to rumor, he’s a Jew who survived the Nazi Holocaust, so that’s colored his perception of humanity. He is convinced that mutants will be treated the exact same way, so he argues for mutant supremacy and separation from the rest of humanity. Although the government considers him a terrorist, he never attacks a group or site unprovoked or without reason. Every single attack is against those who have directly attacked, are responsible for an attack, or are a clear threat to mutants. For example, the threat against Nixon I mentioned? Mutants had been revealed not a week before, and Nixon brought out a weapon to hunt down and destroy all mutants,” Jack explained.

“He should have done that a lot sooner,” an all too familiar voice stated.

“Miko,” the trio groaned in unison. “What are you doing here?” Bulk asked as Arcee moved to radio the base.

“PLEASE don’t send me back to helicopter mom! No offense, Jack,” Miko stated.

“Don’t worry, I completely understand. She hasn’t hovered this much for eight years,” Jack replied, nodding to his partner. Arcee instantly understood what he was signaling, and she couldn’t blame him. By now, only Raf and Bee were still quite tolerant of June’s hovering. (Ratchet was the one exception, and that only because he enjoyed speaking to another in the medical field. How odd was it that the four sets of Autobot and human would match so perfectly in personality?)

Speaking of matches in personality, once Miko knew that she wasn’t leaving, she immediately had Bulk turn on one of her favorite songs, of a style that Bulkhead had also fallen in love with, and the other set of partners despised. How anyone could enjoy shriek rock was something beyond Jack’s understanding. Then when Arcee tried to get them to stop by using her ‘scouts should be silent but deadly’ line, they only laughed at it before heading out to take point. “Wherever I go, I’m the third wheel,” she complained. She probably didn’t intend for Jack to hear, so he politely pretended not to and continued filling her in on Magneto when she asked.

Tracking the magnetic disturbance led not to Magneto as the Darbys had suspected, but instead to two spark songs that Jack recognized. One was the Two Steps From Hell song Destructo that belonged to Bulkhead’s old rival Breakdown, and the all too familiar Night of the Hunter. The two Cons were fighting over some kind of handheld device, well, handheld for a ‘Bot anyways. Arcee quickly identified it as the source of the magnetic disturbance and had Bulk launch her at the Decepticon duo, after ensuring that Miko was safe that is. She instantly forced the two combatants to separate and, when Airachnid insisted on taking her on, gave her a nice slash on the chest. “That’s my girl,” Jack said with pride.

Both of the Bots managed to defeat their opponents, but in doing so, they knocked the Cons towards the device, and Breakdown took it, and turned it on, creating a holographic display, and a humming orb of energy while Airachnid turned and decided to flee. Well, Jack couldn’t allow that, so he started shooting at her, as with Arcee’s help, he had managed to perfect his gunpowder/energon mixture, and the best amount of energon to add to his bullets in order to cause the most damage. But for once, the spider ignored Jack and dove back underground. Just as she escaped, Jack felt a force start pulling him to the device; him, and everything else made of metal. He was reunited with the Bots in midair, until Breakdown hit a switch on the device and all three went flying into a nearby rock. Miko quickly ran up to insist that Bulk go after the Cons. It was only when she grabbed her phone that they realized they might have a problem. “Hey, it’s stuck!” she complained.

“Where’s Arcee?” Bulk demanded.

Miko made the craziest comment, just before Arcee said “I’m right behind you.” Bulkhead couldn’t figure out what she meant, even as she and Jack struggled to free themselves from the Wrecker. “Arcee, I think we’re in trouble,” Jack stated from his place on Bulk’s right side. Fortunately for him, his gun was stuck to his hand and not somewhere else.

 _“Three of you have been magnetized? Together?”_ Ratchet asked in shock and confusion when they decided to call in and update the base.

“No, Ratchet, to Megatron and Starscream. OF COURSE TOGETHER!” Jack yelled at the medic.

Ratchet looked at the comms in shock and confusion, then identified the device as _“A polarity gauntlet. A deceptively simple but diabolic creation. It is probably only a residual magnetic charge providing your current ... attraction. But your current goal must be retrieving the gauntlet. Once Megatron gets his hands on the gauntlet-”_

“We’re all in big trouble,” Jack finished.

 _“I’m not following, Jack,”_ June stated.

"Mom, think about it, what are the bots made of? If Megatron got a hold of the Polarity Gauntlet, it would be like if the military decided to go to war with Magneto. Megatron could turn the Autobots own weapons against them, crush them, repel them, or even just put them all in a ball like we are now. Megatron would be able to win the war in a heartbeat with the flick of a switch,” Jack explained.

 _“Fortunately for us, the gauntlet hasn’t traveled far. I would strongly advise pursuit.”_ Bulkhead was ready to roll out right then and there, until Jack and Arcee reminded him of their presence, which meant that they were forced to walk to the gauntlet.

Miko was extremely excited to go as well, but Arcee shut it down, telling her that she’d be going back since they now knew that they would be going into a combat situation. She immediately complained “You think Jack’s mom is bad? You sound just like her!”

“Come on, Miko,” Jack stated. “At least Arcee let you go on recon, if it were up to my mom, you wouldn’t have even been able to do that!”

About thirty minutes later, they found Breakdown webbed up to an old, abandoned gas station. Jack knew that Airachnid had to be close, and sure enough, she showed up seconds later, giving Bulkhead the most foolish order she could: to turn around so his back was to her. “Whatever you say,” Bulk stated with a smile in his voice. Instantly he turned around, allowing Arcee to fire on her rival with abandon, while Jack also made his presence known with careful shots at the joints in her extra limbs. Unfortunately, because of all the shooting, Airachnid dropped the gauntlet, causing it to activate again, pulling everything towards it until it released Breakdown from the webbing, allowing him to claim it and shut it down.

With Breakdown free, he and Airachnid teamed up once more. As per usual, Bulkhead took on Breakdown, while Arcee fought Airachnid, but due to the fact that they were still stuck to each other, Arcee was often pulled away from Airachnid, which in turn allowed Jack to shoot her, doing his best to actually pierce her spark chamber. Then Bulkhead turned around to face Airachnid, asking if Arcee needed any help. While Bulk fought the spider-bot (despite Arcee’s protest,) Jack spotted Breakdown getting up from where Bulk tossed him. When the Con went for the gauntlet, Jack started shooting at his hand. “I’m going to crush you, you malfunctioning mechling!” the Con growled out.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Arcee called out before launching herself off Bulkhead’s back, blasting him the whole time. Arcee then fought the Con long enough for Jack to escape, then she and Bulkhead worked together to beat both Cons, with Arcee using the gauntlet to finish off Airachnid, leaving the two Cons stuck together, just as Arcee, Bulk and Jack had been. Upon returning to base, June and Arcee made up, with June apologizing for being so overprotective. Jack smiled, finally things were starting to look up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who are curious, the story I referenced was Old Nightmare on Fanfiction.net by KorovaMilkBar, an unlabeled Resident Evil crossover (unlabeled here meaning it doesn’t identify itself as a crossover,) where Jack and June were survivors of Raccoon City, despite Jack having been bitten in the arm. Do NOT read unless you enjoy the games/movies, Jack being tortured emotionally and physically, and zombie apocalypse scenarios! My Jack was rubbing his arm because his experience with Sam has left him with a minimal, subconscious connection to his other selves, thus his own fear of zombies. Oh, and when I finally hit Season 2, you will hear the explanation for how Jack gained his ability to transform. Thank you Covenant of Primus!


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